Alter Ego

Alex is in his forties, quiet, living an orderly life. New neighbours move in next door. When he first sees the husband he freezes: the man is his exact double. The one difference is the hair; Alex has none and the other has. The man is also more attractive, more at ease, more accomplished and liked by everyone. Alex fixes on the resemblance and it turns into an obsession. Bruno Lavaine directs. Laurent Lafitte plays Alex, with Olga Kurylenko, Blanche Gardin and Zabou Breitman in the cast. The premise takes the motif of the double into comedy. The narrative rests not on fear but on comparison: Alex sees in the other what he could have been, and that makes his own life unbearable. Laurent Lafitte plays both parts and separates them by differences of gesture. Underneath sits the question of middle age and of being seen; Alex's complaint is not his neighbour but that nobody notices him. This strand of French comedy stands close to black humour; the jokes proceed through the humiliation of the character and some scenes are uncomfortable. It appeared in 2026. Who it is for: viewers who like French black comedy and films built on a single idea. Who it is not for: the premise repeats, the narrative marks time in the middle, and the ending does not quite close the idea.