10 Movies to Help You Fight Your Evil Doppelgänger
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Evil doppelgängers can emerge from anywhere—they pop out of parallel dimensions, are crafted by alien technology, or burst into the present as time-traveling robots. Even worse, sometimes they just exist for no reason, other than to duplicate (and inevitably torment) a story’s main character.
With Apple TV+’s new sci-fi series Dark Matter currently pitting different versions of Joel Edgerton against each other, here are 10 movies (well, technically one is a TV series) to check out for similar themes.
Us
Jordan Peele’s 2019 thriller imagines that there’s a secret underground world populated by government-created clones called the “Tethered,” who understandably resent their above-ground counterparts, and turn to violence to claim their freedom. It’s an unrelentingly unsettling movie further buoyed by Lupita Nyong’o’s stunning dual performance, as well as some weird details like a fascination with Hands Across America. Rent or buy on Prime Video.
Cam
Madeleine Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale) stars in this genre-bending 2018 thriller about woman whose growing following as a cam girl takes a strange turn when she discovers her account’s been taken over by what appears to be her identical twin. Streaming on Netflix.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
In the future, the music of the Wyld Stallyns has made the world an infinitely better place—so of course a villain tries to change the course of history. Enter Evil Bill and Evil Ted, robots sent back to 1991 to assume the lives of our excellent but temporarily deceased heroic duo. Confusion galore results, along with comedy and rocking out, of course. Streaming on Max.
Muppets Most Wanted
Celebrity cameos and ludicrous accents populate this endearing 2014 romp, which sends the Muppets on a European tour that’s a front for an elaborate scheme hatched by elite jewel thief Constantine, who looks exactly like Kermit (aside from the mole above his frog lip). Streaming on Disney+.
The One
In this 2001 action thriller, Jet Li plays a character who has both good-guy and very-very-bad-guy versions—the latter being a rogue MultiVerse Authority agent who’s zipping across dimensions killing every iteration of himself and absorbing their life force to make himself unstoppable. The supporting cast is surprisingly great (Carla Gugino, Jason Statham, Delroy Lindo) and the soundtrack is a time capsule of aggro ear-bleeds, including (ooh, ah, ah, ah, ah!) “Down With the Sickness.” Streaming on Peacock.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
While the 1956 original captures the Red Scare vibes of its era, the 1978 remake offers more disorientation and genuine frights. A cast including Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Veronica Cartwright, and Jeff Goldblum brings gravitas to the familiar sci-fi plot of alien pod people creeping their way into the human population, with more mutant dogs, dramatic pointing, and high-pitched screams this time around. Streaming free with ads on Freevee.
Army of Darkness
In 1987's Evil Dead II, Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams occasionally, hilariously, gruesomely becomes possessed, and while there aren’t separate bodies battling each other in this example, there are definitely some unhinged mirror conversations. But of course, it didn’t end there—Evil Ash made his physical return in 1992 sequel Army of Darkness, and proved to be just as violently pesky. Rent or buy on Prime Video.
Gemini Man
Ang Lee directed Will Smith in this 2019 oddity about a middle-aged sniper who’s being hunted by a younger clone of himself. Fun fact slash warning: the CGI de-aging used in Gemini Man is one of the reasons George Miller decided his new prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga should cast younger actors, instead of trying to digitally shave decades off Charlize Theron. Rent or buy on Prime Video.
Enemy
A few years before Denis Villeneuve became sci-fi cinema’s next great master, he made this 2013 thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a history professor who comes to realize he has an exact twin after spotting him in a movie. Stalking, understandably confused wives, and some disturbing plot twists and tarantula imagery soon follow. Streaming on Cinemax.
Twin Peaks: The Return
When Twin Peaks: The Return arrived in 2017, fans eagerly anticipated the answer to a question they’d been wondering for over 25 years: what happened to Agent Cooper after that season two cliffhanger? The former FBI agent emerged from the Black Lodge a changed man, and The Return’s biggest plotlines followed various versions of Cooper, primarily the evil “Mr. C” and the oddly lucky Dougie Jones. What did it all mean? We’re still pondering the finer points, but it did bring some wonderfully diverse performances from Kyle MacLachlan. Streaming on Paramount+.
