The Image of You begins by introducing us to the character of Anna as well as her twin Zoe Mercer.’s It is interesting to note that these are not just simple twin sisters, but Monoamniotic Monochorionic twin sisters. The film assures us that One amniotic sac, monochorionic twins happen in only one percent of all twin births. If one exists, so may others, however, twins concept is also equally rare, one might say, is such a film as The Image of You, which smoothly and balanced straddles the edge of the ‘so bad it’s good’ and the ‘so bad it’s sad’ tropes. Had the film been born, one could speculate that its mother and father are Gone Girl and Dead Ringer and had these two continued to drink and smoke while pregnant as nothing would surprise anyone.
Ana is the ‘good’ twin while Zoe is the overbearing hedonistic twin. They both hold down part-time jobs that could and should support them in their luxurious lifestyles due to their rich parents David and Alexia (Nestor Carbonell and Mira Sorvino respectively). Ana tries to seek love from her hooked arms on a dating site while Zoe ridicules her. Apart from their differences Zoe’s attitude bashing being just one of them – the sisters share an inseparable bond along with Alexia who is sorry to say, resigned to the parents problems that have their daughters being more twins than siblings.
Swapping scenes in the film, Ana meets a perfect match: bland and awkward investment banker Nick (Parker Young) on a date, which at least meets her physical standards even if it does make it sound boring. Both Ana and Nick are flat characters that are only ever defined by one trait each. This is in tandem with the purpose the personas serve, whereby both Ana’s purpose in the film is to be sweet (very much to the point where there is a plethora of supporting characters that are solely there to inform the audience of how lovely she is) and Nick was in theory a decent charming hit but was just smart-less.
The writers of the film are so adamant on the fact that these two are the ideal couple that they even make it seem as if the couple says ‘I love you’ before asking the typical rom-com questions. In fact, they get engaged only 6 weeks after they first met. The story as it is written and performed badly by Lacey and her husband Christopher, unfolds in a manner that would be rather embarrassing for the Hallmark Channel. When it comes to telling a love story in the relationship, there are strikingly few images which stand out among a montage and a variety of angles and framing framing.
Yet, for Zoe, their love story does not matter. From the start, she views Nick with suspicion and there is no lack of reasonable suspicion. He has multiple dating applications and his first name is not present on the profiles, as he claims to prefer using his middle name. He contends that it is undesired to have his friends view him (which is an awkward thing to say considering his actual face is present in the images). She watches as he goes on a falsified date with Ana, she chases Ana at her office, and she has her mother drive her around the town so that she could voice her worries. For Ana, it is too bad that she does not allow herself the opportunity to meet Nick as she introduces her new husband to her. Yet still, she does manage to meet Nick but it is not at all how either of them anticipated. And from there, the thriller and mystery aspect tf kicks in with full steam.
It will, without a doubt, instill confidence in many that the picture does get better than the first act, but some will still find the rest equally disheartening. This film is an adaptation of the book by Adele Parks MBE, and only readers of said book will be able to find out as to how true to the story’s imagination the author is. As a thriller by itself though, it does not offer anything new other than the bases the clues, the frantic moments of asking for the truth, the covering up of the dark secrets, the bitter possibilities or aftermaths, etc. If you have seen more than ten of these movies, you will probably be predicting how this story will unfold even before the halfway mark.
That doesn’t however, go to say that you would not enjoy the movie. Some moments are good, and some are bad, very bad, but good as well. Nick’s sister Rebecca (Michele Nordin) seems pretty believable in her reaction after learning that her brother is engaged to someone he has known for six weeks. Zoe does a brilliant job in that she gets to rip apart Nick’s dating profile. In fact, despite all that Chris Sivertson’s screenplay does to typecast Pieterse’s performance, she manages to portray twins with finesse.
Needless to say, Zoe is the character with most range, the most lines and she also gets the best scenes. And no matter how predictable it may be, the film’s big twist is in fact quite well set up throughout the scenarios even when the scenes are the most clichéd.
The Image of You is one of those films that make no sense and yet, gradually becomes easier to watch or more accurately, funnier as it gets increasingly ridiculous. The actors’ performances, although stiff and awkward in the beginning, get better with the help of absurdism later on. Jeff Fisher, the director of the movie; certainly, must have known what type of movie he was making. For instance, when Zoe walks in and does something sexy, he shoots a scene where men are gaping at her until their wives shout at them. He cheekily zooms in on someone’s face as they react to a shocking plot twist and the music selection in the movie has a ton of cheesy tracks which pushes it towards parody. The first part of a movie is pathetic and yes, it could make a lot of people cringe. But for those that hang on in there, what they will get is a disturbing trip which fully understands the arrows it has in its quiver.
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