| Director | Denis Villeneuve |
|---|---|
| Box office | $3.5 million |
At an underground club, a man attends an erotic show which culminates with a naked woman about to crush a live tarantula under her high-heel.
Adam Bell, a college history professor, lives a quiet, mundane life in Toronto. He rents a film, Where There's a Will There's a Way, on the recommendation of a colleague, and spots an actor who looks strikingly like himself playing a bellhop. Searching online, Adam identifies the actor as Anthony Claire. Adam rents the other two films in which Anthony has appeared and becomes obsessed with the man, who appears to be his physical twin. Immediately afterwards, Adam searches some boxes in his own house and finds a photo of someone who looks like himself, with a woman's hand over his shoulder. However, part of the photo is torn out, making the woman impossible to identify.
Adam stalks Anthony, visiting his talent agency, where he is mistaken for Anthony and given a confidential letter. Discovering Anthony's apartment in Mississauga, Adam calls the home, but reaches Anthony's pregnant wife, Helen. She also mistakes Adam's voice for Anthony's and assumes it's a joke, but Adam insists he is not Anthony. This frightens Helen, and Adam abruptly ends the call.
Adam calls again later and reaches Anthony, who assumes Adam is a stalker and tells him not to call again. Helen confronts Anthony about the phone call and Adam's existence, but Anthony insists he knows nothing. Unconvinced, Helen researches Adam, discovers the college where he teaches, and finds him. Helen is visibly stunned by her husband's doppelgänger, though Adam does not realize who Helen is.
Anthony eventually calls Adam, and they meet in a hotel room. There, the two discover they are perfectly identical, even having the same scar on their chests. Adam is taken aback by Anthony's direct personality, says the meeting was a mistake, and quickly leaves. The two men begin having similar dreams featuring first a naked woman with a spider's head, and later a giant, skyscraper-sized spider walking amidst the Toronto skyline.
The next day, Anthony stalks Adam, and sees Adam's girlfriend, Mary. Anthony accuses Adam of sleeping with his wife and then shames and manipulates Adam into letting him sleep with Mary to "get even.” He demands Adam's clothes and car keys for a night, after which he promises to disappear forever, and Adam complies. Anthony impersonates him and takes Mary to a hotel.
Meanwhile, Adam goes to Anthony's apartment in retaliation and is let inside. The building concierge desperately asks "Anthony" to take him back to the underground sex club. Inside the apartment, Adam finds a framed photo on a shelf which looks like the one he had found earlier in his own house, but now the photo is intact, and the woman is revealed to be Helen. Adam tries to act as Anthony in front of Helen, but it appears that she recognizes his nicer demeanor. She pretends not to notice and cuddles with him. Later that night, however, Helen wakes to find Adam crying and apologizing; she tells him she prefers him and asks him to stay, then has sex with him.
Back at the hotel, Mary panics during sex when she notices Anthony's wedding-ring mark and asks who he really is. Anthony claims he has always had the mark. She forces Anthony to drive her home; the two get into a fight in the car which results in a high-speed crash, presumably killing them both. A shattered car window forms the pattern of a spider web.
The next day, Adam dresses in Anthony's clothes and finally opens the confidential letter he received earlier. He finds a key to the underground sex club, given only to select members. He resolves to go there and shouts to Helen that he's going out, but he hears no response. As he enters the bedroom, instead of Helen, he sees a room-sized tarantula cowering against the rear wall. With a resigned look, Adam sighs.