As Sex Crimes has evolved, it has been exciting to see how different Erotic Thrillers play to – or subvert – the conventions of the subgenre. This is especially true of modern entries, which, unlike the titles released during the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s, tend to defy simple classification.
The truth is that there are very few contemporary Erotic Thrillers; it’s something of a dormant subgenre that rears its head in fits and starts. This is partially why everyone got so excited by Adrian Lyne’s “return” with Deep Water (and then summarily got disappointed when he failed to adhere to the expected tropes that many of his own films established).
Fans of Lyne would do well to shift their attention to French writer/director François Ozon (Swimming Pool). Well respected in his home country, the extremely literary, openly queer director has made two Erotic Thriller-adjacent titles in the last six years, including Summer of 85 (2020), as well as 2017’s Double Lover.
Adapted from Joyce Carol Oates’ 1987 book Lives of the Twins (aka Kindred Passions), Double Lover tells the story of Chloé (Marine Vacth), an aimless young woman living in Paris and suffering from significant stomach cramps. After consulting her gynecologist (Dominique Reymond, in one of the film’s many dual performances), Chloé is referred to a psychiatrist, Paul Meyer (Jérémie Renier) who is calm, kind, and hot.
The pair develop a rapport that comes to an abrupt end when he admits he’s fallen in love with her. They quickly consummate their relationship and almost immediately move in together, despite his controlling behaviour and dislike of her cat, Milo.
One day on her way home from work, Chloé sees Paul embracing a woman, but when she confronts him, it’s not what she thinks: he has an identical twin brother, Louis (also Renier), whom he doesn’t speak of or to.
Like all mysteries and thrillers, Chloé can’t help investigating. She books an appointment with Louis under an alias (he is also a therapist), but she finds him cruel, crude, and abrasive. Still, there’s an undeniable attraction and, when Chloé goes back, their relationship quickly escalates into a torrid, sexually aggressive affair.
Because this is a French film, the (simulated) sex is quite graphic and frequently borders on rape. In fact, their first time together finds Louis ignoring Chloé’s frequent attempts to fend off his advances; he manhandles her until she finally succumbs. Later, when she breaks off the affair because Louis’ behaviour has become threatening (he impersonates Paul on her birthday), he berates her and hits her into a glass shower, shattering it.
It should be noted that Double Lover is deliberately provocative. Frequently compared to Hitchcock’s work, Ozon’s screenplay is filled with sequences that are revealed to be a dreams; nearly every character, including the cat (!), has a doppelgänger (identical or nearly identical); and the film openly associates sex (both the act and the physical body) with obsession, lies, and power.
It is also a tool that can be used unlock the truth (both within people and situations), a fact the film makes clear from the very start. Double Lover opens Chloé chopping off most of her hair in the mirror (haircuts are often a visual shorthand for establishing that a character undergoing a significant event in their life). This sequence is immediately followed by a close up of Chloé’s genitals during her gynecology exam. Her vagina then transitions into her eye, making the association between sex and vision clear.
This duality is rendered metaphorically clear via the use of doubles, as well as mirrors, throughout the film. This is most evident at Chloé’s work, where she watches patrons as a member of security at the art museum, as well as in Louis’, where sliding glass mirrors are mark the thin barrier dividing his office and his bedroom.
As previously noted in this editorial series, Erotic Thrillers are defined by conventions and iconographies such as mirrors, doubling, infidelity, and dangerous sexuality. Double Lover features all of these criteria, and yet, its frequent lapses into dream logic – often accompanied by surreal imagery and/or abrupt cuts – pushes it into psychological and even experimental territory (For example: the film’s infamous threesome dream sequence featuring Chloé and the twins has the same trippy visuals as Vincenzo Natali’s stint on Hannibal S03).
For some audiences, the “reveal” of Paul and Louis’ secret, and how Chloé fits into it, will be underwhelming, stupid or ridiculous. Aficionados of Ozon, however, will recognize this for its playfulness: the French auteur is having a laugh while playing within the Erotic Thriller sandbox.
Double Lover is a stylish, wild, and sexy ride, but it’s not meant to be taken seriously. If Hitchcock’s highbrow thrillers and Lyne’s salacious domestic dramas had a contemporary Erotic Thriller baby, it might look something like Double Lover.
That’s a win in my books.
Sex Crimes is a column that explores the legacy of erotic thrillers, from issues of marital infidelity to inappropriate underage affairs to sexualized crimes. In this subgenre, sex and violence are inexplicably intertwined as the dangers of intercourse take on a whole new meaning.
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