One of the great gifts bestowed on us as filmgoers is to live at the same time as François Ozon, who has been one of our best-working directors for over a quarter of a century. A filmmaker with an impeccable career that contains very few failures (and even his supposedly lesser works are quite remarkable in their own way), he has frequently tested the boundaries of his craft in creative and intriguing ways, which has made his work so refreshing and earnest, as well as wildly original. You can start with just about any of his films and find a complex, compelling masterwork that transcends categorization and challenges conventions in ways that are unique and always captivating, even when they may veer towards being slightly uncomfortable in many ways. This is evident in Double Lover (French: L’Amant double), in which Ozon adapts the novel Lives of the Twins by Joyce Carol Oates, which tells the story of a young woman who starts to feel phantom pains, which are diagnosed as psychological, and thus can only be cured by seeing a therapist, which plunges her into a precarious situation once she starts seeing duelling psychologists who are actually identical twins that each harbour very deep secrets. This is only the surface-level premise, and it already comes across as extremely complex and perhaps slightly intimidating, which is likely the entire reason behind Ozon’s decision to explore the world in which this film takes place, adapting this novel but infusing it with his own demented point of view, which has never been more irreverent or delightful than in this bizarre combination of erotic thriller and psychological horror, which represents absolutely everything he does best as a filmmaker, while not even being his most well-constructed or interesting film, which is quite an achievement and all the proof we need towards his credibility as a filmmaker.

Ozon has never been afraid to explore more controversial subjects – we can simply look at his earliest work and see just how much of it was defined by pushing boundaries, even if it meant skirting around very taboo issues that most filmmakers would not even dare consider touching. He embraced the deranged and controversial earlier in his career, with a few brief excursions later, which is embodied perfectly by this film, which takes us back to that era in which he was making subversive films that bordered on immoral. This is intentional, with Ozon aims to construct a vibrant and fascinating exploration of sexual desire, and how easily these feelings of repression can be reconfigured into the source of perversion, which is what the film is so actively investigating. Never one to shy away from these subjects, the director leaps directly into the heart of these overarching concepts, right from the first moment in an opening shot that is both shocking and beautifully-composed, to the very end of the film, where we are witness to a truly terrifying conclusion that doesn’t give us any answers, but instead leaves us with far more questions than we ever expected. Double Lover is not a film exclusively about sexuality, since that would not be particularly interesting – instead, it uses the concept of desire to examine the human condition, and the psychological aspects that drive many to fall victim to these perversions. There isn’t anything explicitly unethical in this story (although standards have rarely stopped Ozon in the past), but rather the sense of discomfort and repulsion that comes from seeing how he twists and manipulates something like sexuality into a simultaneously grotesque and transfixing affair is a strong indicator of his abilities as a filmmaker, as well as his skill in constructing a story that rarely gives us any reprieve, instead choosing to keep us on the edge of sanity for nearly two hours, which is a tremendously powerful narrative tool that the director has never taken for granted and instead chose to weaponize as the foundation for many of his fantastic films.

If there is one aspect of Ozon’s work that is almost unimpeachably true, it is the fact that he makes his influences extremely clear, and has never been hesitant to showcase his admiration for other artists, especially the filmmakers that inspired him to become a director. Double Lover is perhaps the closest Ozon has gotten to directing an Alfred Hitchcock film, with both the story and visual elements being reminiscent of the great master of suspense (and the comparison to David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers only strengthen this argument, since that film was also a tribute to Hitchcock in many ways), whose spirit lingers heavily over every frame of this film. An aspect that Ozon captures quite brilliantly that many lesser attempts to pay tribute tend to overlook is that it isn’t enough to tell a story that is filled with suspense or follow a rigorous approach to the visuals in which every shot is perfectly-composed, but rather to take a holistic view of the entire process, infusing every aspect with the sense of intrigue that made those original films so compelling. In terms of Double Lover, Ozon takes this story of a young woman who falls victim to two brothers who manipulate her in different ways, and forms it into a disquieting and remarkably complex work – it extends beyond the formal construction, with the incredible cinematography and design of the film, as well as the suspenseful tone by composer NAME, and is shown to be part of the fabric of this story, which is as reliant on these tangible aspects as it is the tone, which is perhaps slightly more important. Double Lover understands that this kind of story is only effective with the right atmosphere, and Ozon ensures that we feel every sensation necessary to the progress of the film – disgust, sorrow and fear as counterbalanced with a pitch-black sense of humour and an almost absurdist worldview, which makes it clear that this story was not intended to be taken seriously at all, without it being ridiculous for the sake of confusing the viewer, which was never the intention.

In his efforts to capture the true scope of the madness that defines this story, Ozon chooses to collaborate with two actors that fit the material perfectly, both of whom had worked with him before. Marine Vacth had previously collaborated with the director on Young and Beautiful, which serve as quite an audacious introduction into the mainstream, with her brutally raw performance being extremely impressive, especially for someone as young and new to the industry as she was at the time. In this film, Vacth is older and more seasoned, which shows in the work she is doing, bringing this character to life in a way that is extremely compelling, where she is more forthright and grounded than she was previously, but still showcases the same vulnerability, which is entirely appropriate for the character. This is arguably not a role that requires a very strong actor, but rather one that can react well to the growing sense of psychological anarchy that surrounds her, which she initially mistakes as her mental deterioration, but in reality, is the work of the manipulation of those around her. It’s a fantastic performance from someone who is not always viewed as a very strong actor, but who has proven herself to be extremely adept under Ozon’s masterful direction. Conversely, Jérémie Renier reunites with Ozon after a few collaborations, (most recently Potiche, in which he had a more comedic role, but one that still showcased his incredible skill), and the ability to disappear into any role – and considering he was part of one of the director’s earliest and most controversial films, the bizarre Criminal Lovers, it feels like more than just a physical reunion, but a spiritual one as well. One of the signs of a truly great actor is the ability to play two characters that look identical, but still, somehow make us believe these are two entirely different people. Renier does it in a single film, playing the dual parts of the psychologists that manipulate the young protagonist in different ways. Renier disappears into these roles, playing Paul and Louis in wildly different ways, and rarely have we found an actor capable of terrifying and comforting us in equal measure, which he somehow manages to do simultaneously. The pairing of these two actors is wonderful and gives this film the necessary nuance without it being too overly convoluted, which may have been a factor in a film that employed other actors that were more obvious for these roles.

All these aspects, when considered together, make it clear how important it is to celebrate the directorial prowess that went into this story, which would have been mishandled under the guidance of nearly any other filmmaker since I’m not sure how many others would understand the necessary tone needed for this material, or who would be able to find the right balance between visual and narrative. However, without any doubt, this film feels like the quintessential Ozon production – it pushes boundaries that many of us may not have even known existed, it has a sense of wry humour underpinning the harsh melodrama, and the seamlessly bouncing between genres can only come on behalf of somehow entirely dedicated to the absurdity of such a premise, without it becoming too obviously satirical. Many have used the words “trash cinema” to refer to Double Lover, which is a layered term that doesn’t quite encapsulate everything that makes this film so wildly entertaining. This is a film constructed from the macabre fragments of the most bewildering examination of perversion imaginable, one that attempts to offer a glimpse into the darker side of human psychology, without having to take on the burden of exploring the more immoral elements, instead choosing to keep it ethical, while still standing right on the bleeding edge of this kind of story, which benefits from a director willing to take bold risks for the sake of the story. It’s a curious film, and one that plays on every available emotion, which is a trait of several of Ozon’s films, each one challenging and captivating in its way. Bold, shocking and blisteringly odd, Double Lover is an incredible achievement, one of the most vibrant Hitchcock tributes we have seen in the past decade, and quite simply one of the more provocative films in Ozon’s career, which is already filled to the brim with shocking and controversial films, which only goes to show his incredible skill and interminable sense of dedication when it comes to challenging the artform in his unique way.