A Perfect Enemy

A Perfect Enemy is a 2020 psychological thriller directed by Kike Maíllo based on Amélie Nothomb's novel The Enemy's Cosmetique. The film is a Spanish-German-French international co-production starring Tomasz Kot and Athena Strates alongside Marta Nieto and Dominique Pinon.

Plot
"A Perfect Enemy" is a psychological thriller movie that follows the story of successful architect Jeremiasz Angust (Tomasz Kot) who is on a business trip to Paris. While waiting for his flight, he meets a mysterious woman named Texel Textorius (Athena Strates) and strikes up a conversation with her. However, their conversation takes an unexpected turn when Texel accuses Jeremiasz of something that he claims he has no idea about.

Jeremiasz boards his flight and forgets all about the unsettling encounter with Texel, until he meets her again on the flight home to Warsaw This time, she claims that he is a murderer and has evidence to back it up. Jeremiasz is taken aback and denies any involvement in any crime. But Texel is adamant and even takes him to the crime scene, which looks exactly like the one she described.

As Jeremiasz tries to prove his innocence, he is drawn deeper into Texel's game, which seems to have no end. He realizes that Texel is not who she appears to be and has a hidden agenda of her own. As the two engage in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Jeremiasz's life is turned upside down and he begins to question his own sanity.

In the end, the shocking truth is revealed, and Jeremiasz and Texel's fates are sealed in an unexpected way.

Production
The film is a Spanish-German-French co-production by Sábado Películas, Barry Films, The Project, and Hessen-Invest Film.

Release
The film was presented at the 53rd Sitges Film Festival on 16 October 2020. It was released on Filmin streaming on 29 January 2021, reportedly becoming the largest release on the platform up to that date.

Reception
According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, A Perfect Enemy has a 86% approval rating based on 14 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 6.0/10.

Phil Hoad of The Guardian rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be a "well-written, devious Euro-thriller".

Sergio F. Pinilla of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that the story "works", with the viewer feeling "trapped in the waiting room of that airport, at the mercy of the lurking and morbid tales of a stranger", summing up the film as a "psychothriller that relates perfection with (self-)destruction".