Just perfect...

Expected more

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie was unexpected, funny, and thought provoking. The script was great, a different take on a rom-com.

6.5, so above average. I'd recommend never reading the reviews for this movie before you watch it. I barely read the description, because I was told "the less you know, the better", and it's extremely important for this movie. I think it'll even be boring upon a second watch, now that I don't have to think and guess as I had upon the first. So, major spoilers. You have been warned. I have many complaints and many great things to say about this movie, but like the miserable couple in it, I will focus on the bad parts. So, what I gather from the premise is, there are always one couple in the house/quest house that can't leave, because their relationship is not strong enough. And, when some new couple come visit,(guided by some psychopath Doctor Who-ish therapist) the trapped couple tries to switch places with them. They do so, by taking on an idealized form of the new couple, the female seducing the male and so on... And then, when the new couple's relationship is weakened because the trapped couple's fake personalities appears to be so much more awesome than their partner's, the trapped couple can leave, making the "new" couple become the trapped ones instead. This left so many questions, that will frustratingly never be answered. 1) How do the trapped couple shape shift into the idealized forms of the other couple? Is it magic? Quantum mechanics? I don't know, and neither does the movie. 2) So at the end, the male lead realizes that he has escaped with the idealized version of Moss by mistake. He decides to just roll with it, since his original wife coldly and knowingly decided to stay with his fake version - I totally get that. What I don't get is the fake Moss-character's decision to stay with him after she escaped. What's in it for her? She must've gone insane trying to keep up the idealized act forever, given that she is also a real person, who had another life before.3) Related to the one above, are the shape shifting permanent? Do they have permanent fake personalities as well, never being able to reclaim the life they had before? Are they forced to do this, simply because they wanted a better relationship?! 4) What point is the therapist trying to make? After all, all of the couples entering the house/guest house, will have their relationship destroyed, and then be forced to shape shift into a stranger's idea of perfection. They don't get anything fixed, only cruel punishment awaits.Some people say this movie would've been better as a short. I say this movie would've been better as a horror. It was, in fact, recommended to me, because I was searching for a scary movie(damn you, Metafilter, and your ever so tame idea of "scary stuff"). I'll never forget the creeped out feeling I got when I saw Kate Moss holding a babushka, realizing that this would be about doppelgängers, but sadly not knowing that it was intended to be a drama-mystery- comedy. Thus, I sat there waiting in glee for some revelation of the terrible creatures behind the perfect facades, or some build-up to an incredibly freaky psychological horror. They could've done so much with this! I wish they were aliens or something, with a slow, scary revelation of creepy habits, that would make the couple regret their decisions. Or maybe they could've just played around with the surreal feeling of being with your partner, but not really, and the surreal states and psychology that follows living with a fantastic being, that knows it's not real. Yet the simple concept of the movie stayed as minimalist as it was when it begun. Shame.And one last thing. The Kate Moss-character was surprisingly, well, stupid - the fact that she turned out to be "right" in the end didn't prevent me from strongly disliking her, in all her "but if it feeeeels right"- pretensions. I actually thought what she did was worse than the male character cheating, but most of all, I just couldn't connect with her. She lacked both curiosity and fear in a way I found unbelievable, and I actually understood her shape shifter-version much better.

Such a terrific experience. Went in not knowing a single thing about it, except for the part it was kind of a romantic dramedy and was really surprised. "The One I Love" wasn't really the kind of film I was expecting and that's what probably made me like it so much. Carried by the two leads (the both excellent Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss) this is one of those few films where you don't get sick of watching always the same actors on-screen. In fact, the constrained setting makes it much fresh. The soundtrack also factored heavily to create a somewhat creepy and weird atmosphere that the story really benefits from. "The One I Love" can be creepy and extremely charming almost at the some time, and you'll find yourself wondering why some things are happening. Despite leaving some questions unanswered, the film still holds up pretty well and is definitely worthwatching.An amazing directorial debut for Charlie Mcdowell.

"To be bitter is to attribute intent and personality to the formless, infinite, unchanging and unchangeable void. We drift on a chartless, resistless sea. Let us sing when we can, and forget the rest." - H.P. Lovecraft This is a review of "Coherence" and "The One I Love", two very similar films, both featuring doubles, doppelgangers and unnerving, quasi science-fiction plots.Released in 2013, "Coherence" was written and directed by James Byrkit. It begins with a group of characters arriving at the home of Mike (Nicholas Brendon) and Lee (Lorene Scafaria), a married couple. Once at this home, strange occurrences begin to take place. Mobile phones begin to crack, electrical power is lost and a comet flies overhead. This comet, one guest with a keen interest in Quantum Physics suggests, is responsible for the aforementioned freak events.Whilst waiting for the return of electrical power, Byrkit's characters talk. We learn that one is an actor, and so often "pretends to be someone else". Another is a dancer who "lost her chance to be famous" after being "replaced by another dancer". Gradually we learn that each character nurses regrets, and bemoans various missed chances and missed opportunities.Slowly "Coherence" morphs into a horror story. With no electricity in their town, Byrkit's characters venture outside. They eventually stumble upon a home that resembles the one they just left. Even creepier, they begin to encounter replicas of themselves. Pretty soon Byrkit's entire film becomes awash with doubles and doppelgangers, these seemingly duplicated bodies shuffling about in the night like ghoulish apparitions."Coherence" offers a science-fictional explanation for these strange occurrences. The comet, we learn, caused a "decoherence" which "opened up doors" to different, parallel universes. Through these "doors", different versions of our original characters stepped out of their universes and into our own. When the comet disappears, realty will achieve "coherence" and "collapse" back into "one single reality". It is therefore important that all doppelgangers are returned to their own worlds.Stories about parallel universes are common in science-fiction. What "Coherence" does differently is present characters who harbour an intense hatred for their duplicates, triplicates and quadruplicates. Almost every character in "Coherence" despises their world, despises their life, despises their friends and is intensely jealous of the greener pastures upon which they believe their "alternative versions" are living. "Coherence" thus climaxes with several characters plotting against their namesakes and scheming to escape to an alternative universe."Coherence" works best as a horror movie. Its middle sections are creepy, surreal, and make good use of low lighting, grainy film stock and naturalistic, improvised dialogue. During these portions, the film evokes Lovecraft, Lynch and Kafka, and conveys well the horror of a kind of quotidian breakdown. It offers what many deem the highest form of horror: the horror of reality itself being disrupted by something unimaginable, unnatural and inexplicable.Except "Coherence" goes to great lengths to be explicable. To its detriment, the film's final portions hammer home its themes, symbols and metaphors. What was once creepy and disturbing, thus morphs into a very heavy-handed and ultimately trite melodrama about regret.Directed by Charlie McDowell, "The One I love" (2014) approach's "Coherence's" story from a slightly different angle. Its opening scenes introduce us to Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss), a husband and wife who spend several days holidaying at a secluded estate. At this estate the couple encounter duplicates of themselves. Like in "Coherence", these duplicates offer idealised versions of "reality". They're cooler, smarter, sexier and conform to various appealing masculine and feminine stereotypes. As the film progresses, Sophie and Ethan begin to fall in love with the duplicates of their spouses. Like the heroes of "Coherence", they reject their old lives in favour for "new lives" with "better copies". These idealised versions are docile, responsive and willingly cater to every physical and emotional need. In a sense, they are one dimensional robots, completely without desires, flaws or foibles of their own. They're clean. Sanitized. Appealing.Of course it takes a brave film to advocate trading your spouse for a slavish love-bot, and so Sophie and Ethan eventually reject the doppelgangers; the messy realities and irrationalities of animal relations are ultimately too appealing for our couple."The One I Love" isn't as creepy or as unnerving as "Coherence". Where "Coherence" is dark and claustrophobic, "Love" is bright, sleek and spacious. Where "Coherence" adopts horror movie codes, "Love" is primarily a comedy-drama with slight horror elements. Original and well-written, both use science-fiction conventions to delve into the nature of desire and regret, their characters all pining for pastures never met.8.5/10 – See "The Centre of the World" (2001).