Doppelganger (Dopperugengâ) (2003)

56% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(614 ratings)

Yuka (Hiromi Nagasaku) is an attractive young woman whose brother has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Shortly before his untimely death, Yuka got her first glimpse of his double, who has since moved into their apartment and taken his place. Hayasaki (Koji Yakusho) is a brilliant but… More Yuka (Hiromi Nagasaku) is an attractive young woman whose brother has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Shortly before his untimely death, Yuka got her first glimpse of his double, who has since moved into their apartment and taken his place. Hayasaki (Koji Yakusho) is a brilliant but mercurial scientist obsessed with perfecting a robot chair for the disabled, with wheels and mechanical arms that are supposed to function according to the "will" of the user. In his single-mindedness, he harangues his underlings and aggravates his employer, who is focused on the bottom line. After a co-worker tells Hayasaki about Yuka's experience, he finds himself being stalked by a doppelganger. At first, he thinks he is doomed, like Yuka's brother, and tries to avoid his double. Eventually, he loses his job, and control of his invention, and the doppelganger steps in to take care of everything. The double trashes Hayasaki's former lab, stealing the robot chair so the scientist can continue his work. The double also hires a young thug, Kimishima (Yusuke Santamaria), to work for them. The double says Kimishima is "just dumb enough not to find us alarming." But Hayasaki's fears come to the fore when the double takes advantage of Yuka's interest in him. And when his former employer, Aoki (Masahiro Toda), now disgraced, comes looking for a piece of the robot-chair action, the scientist finds himself uncertain who to trust. Doppelganger, a dark comedy directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure) from a script by Kurosawa and Ken Furusawa, was shown at the 2004 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Genres: Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 27, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Mar 29, 2005

Critic Reviews

Sura Wood, Hollywood Reporter
A mildly intriguing, if slight, entertainment.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...an interminable experience...
Rudy Joggerst, Reel.com
Doppelganger is a thriller/horror film with a healthy dose of black comedy.
Boo Allen, Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
Kurosawa gives his take on the Jekyll-Hyde personality that overtakes a repressed inventor.
Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net
One Japanese movie we probably won't be seeing remade in English anytime soon.
Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
Don't see it once, let alone twice!
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
an interesting, if somewhat formulaic horror tale [that] evolves into a merciless satire about the struggle to live an authentic life in a plastic world
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
tweaks the genre and the audience's expectations, subtly changing from a quietly effective horror film into a slick satire on modern life. And that is no less scary
Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Koji Yakusho delivers a wonderfully droll dual performance, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa uses split-screen effects brilliantly.
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
Rarely does a genre derailment end up this well -- switches gears from being a moody (and derivative) horror film to an exuberantly funny dark comedy.

Read all 10 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

El Hombre I

This film seems to have people who really like it or really don't. I suppose I fall somewhere in between. After enjoying Cure so much, I was expecting as good of or better film but overall, wasn't too bad. Technically, this was a nicely shot movie and there were some… More
This film seems to have people who really like it or really don't. I suppose I fall somewhere in between. After enjoying Cure so much, I was expecting as good of or better film but overall, wasn't too bad. Technically, this was a nicely shot movie and there were some interesting ideas at work. A lot of care was taken in framing and blocking. The editing was also quite impressive with a number of instances where the screen was split into two or three segments showing the different sides of Hayasaki and his ghostly twin. The acting was good from all involved and everyone was trying their best with what they were given. In the end, I felt Doppelganger fell victim to lazy writing. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&current=doppelkswa.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/doppelkswa.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Drew S

I saw this a while ago but it seems that Flixster has added it only now. Not that I really care, because this is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's worst movie by a mile. I honestly cannot remember a single thing about the plot except that it lacked any sort of conflict or character development.… More
I saw this a while ago but it seems that Flixster has added it only now. Not that I really care, because this is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's worst movie by a mile. I honestly cannot remember a single thing about the plot except that it lacked any sort of conflict or character development. The one scene I can recall is when Koji Yakusho freaked out and destroyed a bunch of equipment because goddamn, at least he was DOING something. This is the movie that made me wonder if KK is pulling the wool over my eyes with the rest of his films. That's kind of a harsh assessment for a director that I really adore, but seriously, the man gets his screenplays right one out of five times. It's kind of admirable that he just says "fuck it" to those cinematic conventions, but a lot of the time they exist for a reason. Someone send this man a decent script!
Tsubaki S

Starts well, and then, for no reason, derails so badly in the second half i was wondering if Kurosawa just directed the first part and then dropped the whole thing. What starts as a strange psychological thriller ends up being some sort of silly road trip film full of slapstick comedy… More
Starts well, and then, for no reason, derails so badly in the second half i was wondering if Kurosawa just directed the first part and then dropped the whole thing. What starts as a strange psychological thriller ends up being some sort of silly road trip film full of slapstick comedy that doesn't work. This, along with Kairo stays as K Kurosawa's weakest efforts to date. The man can do way much better.
alan j

interesting concept, decent acting..but slow moving and film turns on its side from ghost /horror to more of a comedy..I ultimately gave up on this one!
Christopher B

Fun and intelligent film wrongly marketed as a horror film. As I watched it, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't what I expected it to be, but once it was finished I realized I still enjoyed it a lot and it stuck with me. As long as you know that about half way through… More
Fun and intelligent film wrongly marketed as a horror film. As I watched it, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't what I expected it to be, but once it was finished I realized I still enjoyed it a lot and it stuck with me. As long as you know that about half way through this film it changes gears entirely, it should make for an easier watch. It's also nice to see directors try something different, no matter how outlandish.