''The Devil's Double'' is a 2011 English-language Dutch-Belgian

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Lee Tamahori Warren Lee Tamahori (; born 17 June 1950) is a New Zealand film director. His feature directorial debut, ''Once Were Warriors'' (1994), was a widespread critical and commercial success, and is considered one of the greatest New Zealand films eve ...

, written by Michael Thomas, and starring Dominic Cooper in the dual role of Iraqi military commander

Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein (; 18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and businessman. He was the eldest son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his first wife Sajida Talfah. Owing to his family connections, Uday held various roles i ...

and his body double Latif Yahia. It was released on 22 January 2011 at the

2011 Sundance Film Festival The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival opened with five screenings, one from each ...

and was released in limited theaters in the United States on 29 July 2011 by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

and Herrick Entertainment to mixed critic reviews.

Plot

In 1987, Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier fighting in the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, is called to become a "''fedai''" ("

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

" or political decoy) for

, the son of president Saddam. Latif comes from an upper-class family and attended school with Uday, where students would remark on their likeness. He refuses the position. Furious, Uday has him imprisoned and tortured. Latif relents when his family is threatened. Latif undergoes cosmetic surgery to perfect his resemblance to Uday and practices emulating the latter's mannerisms and persona. Latif tries to resist Uday's exorbitant merrymaking and erratic behavior, at one point fleeing a nightclub to attempt to see his family, who believe that he died in the war. However, he is apprehended by Uday's bodyguards and beaten by Uday. After an appearance at a conference with

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i leaders, an attempt is made on Uday's (Latif's) life, apparently by a member of a rebel opposition group, possibly a

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. The real Uday, though, is more concerned with the Kuwaitis, who he believes were slant drilling into Iraq's Rumaila oil field. The First Gulf War is launched. Uday eventually kidnaps a 14-year-old girl and forces her to escort him to a party. There, Uday becomes enraged with Saddam's personal bodyguard Kamel Hana Gegeo. Uday believes that Gegeo facilitated an affair Saddam had, which devastated his mother. Uday is also jealous at the trust Saddam places in Gegeo. When Gegeo passes sarcastic comments about Uday's advances towards the girl and drunkenly fires an AK-47 in the air, Uday butchers him with a

knife A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least Stone Age, 2.5 million years ago, as e ...

in front of the guests. The next morning, Uday's bodyguards dump the girl's beaten, partially naked body. Furious, Saddam goes to the hospital, where Uday is overdosed on sleeping pills. Saddam beats Uday and nearly castrates him. Only the intervention of a doctor saves him. As the war is in full swing, Latif tries to distance himself from Uday and begins an affair with Sarrab, one of Uday's lovers. Latif, acting as Uday, is later sent to

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

to rally support among

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

soldiers as

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

forces took control of the war. At Basra, another attempt is made on Latif's life. Latif nearly loses a finger in the assault, which would mean Uday would have to amputate his own finger to maintain their resemblance. Uday enters a hospital and threatens to slaughter it if they fail to save his finger. The doctors succeed. Afterwards, Uday, accompanied by his usual party, crashes a wedding, eventually raping and beating the bride, who then commits suicide. Angry, Latif assaults Uday but is corralled by the latter's bodyguards, who threaten to kill him. Uday stops them. Later, Latif is confronted by the father of the girl Uday killed. Uday overhears them and is outraged by the man's pleas for "justice" and "compassion." Uday orders Latif to kill the man, but Latif refuses and instead slits his own wrists. He is dumped half-dead on his family's front door. After Latif recovers, he confronts Uday at his birthday party. The confrontation escalates to a shootout and Latif escapes in Uday's Mercedes with Sarrab. The two escape to

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

, but Sarrab, fearing for her daughter in Iraq, calls Uday begging for the chance to return without being harmed. A would-be assassin sent by Uday misses shooting Latif when they arrive on the island. Angered by Sarrab's carelessness, he washes his hands of her. Uday later calls, offering Latif one final chance to return to Iraq, threatening to kill his father if he refuses. Latif's father encourages him not to return and is killed. Latif returns to Iraq to kill Uday, aided by the man whose bride killed herself. They ambush Uday while he is attempting to lure young girls into his

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

. Although his partner is killed, they wound him severely. One of Uday's bodyguards catches up to Latif as he flees the scene. However the guard is one who Latif could have killed at Uday's birthday party but spared, and the guard extends him the same courtesy. Latif later lives in Ireland with his wife and their two children. Uday is permanently handicapped by the attack but survives until his killing by U.S. forces in 2003.

Cast

* Dominic Cooper as Latif Yahia /

* Philip Quast as

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

/ Faoaz * Mem Ferda as Kamel Hana *

Dar Salim Dar Salim is an Iraqi-born Danish actor. He became known for his role as Green Party chairman Amir Diwan in the Danish TV series '' Borgen'', and starred in the 2023 film '' Guy Ritchie's The Covenant''. Early life Salim was born on 18 August ...

as Azzam Al-Tikriti * Jamie Harding as

Qusay Hussein Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Nasiri al-Tikriti (; 17 May 1966 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician, military leader, and the second son of Saddam Hussein. He was appointed as his father's heir apparent in 2000. He was also in charge of the Republ ...

* Ludivine Sagnier as Sarrab * Mimoun Oaïssa as Ali * Akin Gazi as Saleeh *

Amrita Acharia Amrita Acharia (, also spelled Acharya) is a British actress of Nepalese Ukrainian origins. She is best known for her roles as Irri in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' and as Dr. Ruby Walker in the ITV series '' The Good Karma Hospital''. ...

as School Girl * Frida Cauchi as

Sajida Talfah Sajida Khairallah Talfah (; born 1935) is the widow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and mother of two sons ( Uday and Qusay) and three daughters ( Raghad, Rana, and Hala) with him. She is the oldest daughter of Khairallah Talfah, ...

* Raad Rawi as Munem * Khalid Laith as Yassem Al-Helou * Pano Masti as Said Kammuneh * Nasser Memarzia as Latif's father * Tiziana Azzopardi as Latif's sister * Abner Fabbro as Soldier

Production

A Belgian and Dutch production, the film was shot in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews. The movie has a 52% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, though much critical acclaim has been given to Dominic Cooper's dual role. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' awarded it 3.5 out of 5 and said "certainly a fresh perspective on one of the Middle East's most brutal dictators".

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
The Devil's Double
at Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Double 2011 films 2011 thriller films Belgian thriller films Dutch thriller films 2010s English-language films English-language Belgian films English-language Dutch films Thriller films based on actual events Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Lee Tamahori Films set in Iraq Films set in Baghdad Films shot in Malta Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s Gulf War films Iran–Iraq War films Lionsgate films A-Film Distribution films Films shot in Jordan 2011 drama films Cultural depictions of Saddam Hussein Films about lookalikes Films scored by Christian Henson 2010s Belgian films English-language thriller films Whitewashing in film