The One I Love (2014)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This is a great independent feature made for a mere 100,000 dollars and all the great things that come with limited budget is on display here: minimal locations, great cast, fantastic dialogue delivery and great plot. This film is the birth of a great filmmaker in Charlie Mcdowell- Keep an eye out for the lad. (Great independent film by a new talent)

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.

This is a slow start, but the second half makes it worth a watch. You better know nothing about the film, just have it and enjoy your time. Because that was the case for me and then I found it a good one. I don't know this director, but Mark Duplass was doing such kind of unique concept small films. So there's no surprise, except I did know I would end up liking it very much.When it comes to the film theme, kind of resembles 'Coherence'. The whole film revolves around a married couple, except in the beginning. So it is a minimal cast film that is set in a remote place villa. As their therapist's instruction a couple who are on the edge of losing their marriage, tries a weekend getaway to patch the differences. But end up encountering the strange events that pleases them more than what they've expected. When they begin to realise the reality, comes the trouble to fix it once for all.The third act was amazing. The pace keeps getting better and the tension in the story simply creates enough curiosity about the ending. But the conclusion was very basic and guessable. I liked the honest than too much fancy. Still the viewers look for the answers regarding how it ended which is kind of a wide open for the discussions.I love modern sci-fi dramas, especially in the last one decade, I have been enjoying them a lot, which are highly intelligent yet casually narrated on the screen that anybody can understand easily. If you had liked films such as 'Coherence', 'Another Earth', 'Her', 'Melanchony' et cetera, then surely would have a good time with it.7/10

"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).