Double Trouble

Netflix has been on us for a while to try The One I Love (2014), so I gave in. I actually wanted to watch Palm Springs or Infinity Pool, but they weren't available, and this one does involve a couple and a pool, so...

We are introduced to our protagonists, Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss, at their couples therapy session with Ted Danson. They recount their "origin story": They left a party to sneak into the pool of a house in a rich neighborhood - then have to run when the owner wakes up. They used to be fun, crazy, spontaneous. They went back to the same house recently to try to replay it, but the owner isn't home, and it just feels stupid. 

Also. Duplass slept with someone else.

Danson doesn't seem to think they don't have much chance, so he recommends a retreat at a nice country house. It's beautiful, and there's a nice guesthouse as well. When Moss visits the guest house, she finds Duplass there, without his glasses, and with a lot more charm and less grievance. So they have sex, and marriage is good. When she goes back to the main house, she finds Duplass already there - and he denies that they ever had sex. She's so mad, she kicks him out. So he goes to sleep in the guest house. 

In the middle of the night, Moss comes to him, apologizes and makes up to him. The next morning, she cooks him eggs and bacon for breakfast, although Moss hates him eating bacon. He goes back to the main house, where Moss asks him what he wants for breakfast. He begins to figure it out. If they go to the guest house alone, they meet a doppelganger of their spouse - one that is more lovable, more ideal for them. 

Moss is intrigued by this, and wants to experiment a little. Although they set "no intimacy" with the doubles as a groundrule, it's possible Moss wants payback for Duplass' infidelity. Although is it unfaithful to sleep with an idealized copy of your spouse?

As the movie develops we see Moss getting more and more into the Duplass copy. Duplass, funnily enough, never seems to take advantage of the more loving Moss copy, at least after he's figured it out. 

We get some more exploration of the rules, we find out what's up with the copies, and it all ends up how you might guess.

Although this is a 2014 production, it would have been easy to film during Covid. There are only three main actors and a short diner scene. The main location is the house and guest house, which belongs to Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. I don't think I've seen anything produced by the Duplass Brothers, but I guess they like to keep things simple.