The One I Love (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2756032/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Check out the IMDb link above. You can skim the synopsis if you want, but honestly? Better to go in blind for this one.

Keeping this short and sweet. Just wanted to get a thread going for anyone who’s already seen it so we can talk shop. If you feel like dropping a full review to give people the lowdown, be my guest!

Incorrect link or title :-)

David Price5 said:wrong link or title :-)

My ctrl + c was acting up a bit 😁

goldenhound32 said:So... what's the shrink's angle in sending them there? Like, he knows exactly what happens to couples once they arrive, right?

That part's still up in the air. And that piano in the office? No clue what that signifies. It’s pretty obvious the shrink is recording when he's training the voice actors—maybe his voice shifts—so maybe he's pulling the strings, but I haven't figured out his end game yet.

And if those things really are doppelgangers, how did that even happen? Does some magical field mess with the originals so they see things differently? Like, plastic surgery or something?
How does she not notice the other guy has a different... you know, anatomy? Did they just tweak everything to match?

Those doors lock themselves, too. It's like the estate itself decides which pair gets to leave the house, since they're stuck in the guest wing at first. And where do they go when the main couple bursts in? Do they just vanish, or does the mansion hide them away in secret rooms? Maybe someone's watching from the shadows. The timing of them disappearing right when the originals rush into the guest house is just too perfect...

The piano serves merely as a way for them to witness their own lack of synchronization. In other words, Psychic plants that very realization directly into their minds.

Perhaps Psychic just enjoys playing games with people. Or maybe he’s convinced he’s actually doing them a favor. Personally, I think he helped them—even if they didn't give him permission to do so.

As for those duplicates and the automatic door locks... look, duplicates exist. I won't get bogged down in the logistics because we're talking about science fiction here. Every sci-fi movie operates by its own set of rules. If we started nitpicking the feasibility of warp drives or Star Trek replicators, we'd never get anywhere.

And who’s to say the originals don't realize they've been replaced by a duplicate? It’s entirely possible they all figure it out and are perfectly fine with it. Or, they figure it out, hate it, and start making a scene, but Psychic simply sweeps it under the rug. We have no real idea just how much power he wields.

Now, regarding the husband. I can't quite grasp why you found him so exhausting, especially since we know the man was right. I saw it immediately. You might have felt like he was just whining or acting like some paranoid spy.

I didn't mean he was spying for no reason, but if they made a deal, you gotta stick to it. He basically played her again, which is why he lost her in the first place.

He lost her the very moment he cheated on her for the first time, an act that ultimately sent her spiraling into therapy.

goldenhound32 said:like, the piano is just there to show how out of sync they are. kind of like how your subconscious drops a random thought into your head.

nah, I meant what's the actual point of it sitting in an empty room at the end of the day? probably nothing.

A likely reminder regarding the lack of synchronization.

goldenhound32 said:We truly have no idea just how powerful he really is.

To be honest, we don't even know what he actually is. I haven't wasted much energy worrying about whether they are aliens, from another dimension, or something else entirely. It will likely never be explained, and frankly, it doesn't need to be.

I've finally accepted that a therapist is basically some kind of superhuman or an alien or whatever, but honestly, even after three days, I still can't wrap my head around why they actually do what they do.

It either serves as a test or acts as a way to help the couples who have already settled in together. They walk in angry, but they leave with a fake smile on their faces.

I was honestly about to fast-forward just to see if anything actually worthwhile happened—then the plot finally kicked in. I haven't encountered a setup quite like that before. Though, I have to say, the ending felt a bit telegraphed—pretty much from the moment they showed up in matching outfits.

It gives me major Stephen King vibes.

David Price5 said:He’s just doing it for the ratings or to help the couples (the ones left behind in the house). They walk in angry and leave with fake smiles..

Honestly, I think he's just chasing the views too. If someone happens to get helped along the way, fine, whatever.

Either way, it's a weird, one-of-a-kind movie.

placidranger said:I almost started fast-forwarding just to see if anything actually interesting would happen before the plot finally kicked in. I haven't seen anything quite like that. The ending was pretty easy to spot, though—mostly from the moment they both dressed exactly the same.

Exactly. That 2% didn't surprise me at all; I was just waiting for the final piece of evidence to drop.

Regardless, it's a solid example of how to make an engaging movie on a tight budget.

One needs an idea, though that idea certainly doesn't have to be entirely original—not in any absolute sense. A few nods to pop culture phenomena, some clever quotes, and a solid grasp of technical craft go a long way. The objective is to create a compelling blend, and The One I Love manages this quite effectively. It is, first and foremost, a genre mashup that weaves together elements of drama, mystery, comedy, romance, and sci-fi, even touching upon thriller and horror territory, all while primarily focusing on just two actors. It sounds somewhat whimsical, yet it works perfectly well.
Despite being a newcomer, the young McDowell is no amateur; it is quite evident that he has either attended film school or at least studied the art of cinema extensively on his own. His sense of pacing is worthy of Hitchcock, and his use of suspense and surprise is distributed with precision, much like his visual cues, even if the soundtrack feels a bit intrusive at times. He isn't overly heavy-handed with his references, either; the film clearly signals only two major influences—The Twilight Zone and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?—but one can detect traces of various other famous films and literary works. We can recognize the influence of Solaris, Inception, or the prose of Stephen King, as well as the work of the duo Kaufman-Jonz.
How one perceives The One I Love depends entirely on the viewer's perspective. I approached it as a seasoned cinephile, and I was not disappointed. I found it difficult to approach it any other way, though any other method is perfectly legitimate. Fans of specific genres will undoubtedly find something to enjoy, but I fear they might miss the broader picture. Naturally, the film is not without its flaws, and once all the narrative tricks have been played, it needs a way to wrap things up; McDowell handles this somewhat tentatively, relying on conventional resolutions that feel at odds with the eccentricity that defines the rest of the film. Even so, The One I Love is absolutely worth watching, perhaps even more than once.

more at:
http://film-na-dan.blogspot.com/2014...ne-i-love.html

Did he actually get the real Sophie, or just some cheap imitation???

Nicole Johnson20 said:Was she actually Sophie when she went out with him, or just a copy?

I suspect it was a duplicate, though I have read conflicting theories online.

I watched the movie tonight, and it is certainly quite unusual. 🙂

Hannah Gonzalez75 said:Look, I finally accepted that the therapist is some kind of superhuman or an alien or whatever, but even after three days, I still don't get why he's doing what he's doing.

Why's he doing it?
If you ask me, these doubles are everything the originals aren't. They're basically everything the real people wish they could be. It just comes down to whether they're actually brave enough to go out with "someone else" knowing deep down it isn't "the one."
The therapist has a super clear job to help his patients, and he did it.

Honestly, the movie was genius. Loved it. 🙂