Edgar Poe ,"William Wilson" .
At first ,this thriller shows a Roman Polanski influence : the hero's peaceful life , in a common milieu,suddenly subject to the intrusion of maleficent hostile world,and sinister-looking characters looming in everyday life : ever since the first meeting with his girlfriend's father , one feels something bizarre in his attitude towards his (future?) son-in-law ;which the second one (the handshake) does nothing to dispel .In the meantime, a sinister -looking figure appears ,some kind of double, a persecutor, or his conscience,because ,slowly but inexorably, one feels that the hero has skeletons in his closet ,that fueled by the girlfriend's dad 's investigations (he's a cop).
The man who follows him everywhere and which nobody but the unfortunate hero can see may seem sometimes intrusive at times ,but it inspires the excellent scene with the little girl :children often invent an imaginary friend ,and for her ,it's only natural that her mom's friend has one too.
Not only the hero thinks he's losing his marbles ,which the people who are supposed to help him do nothing to rectify : on the contrary ,the thespian in the hospital sends him to a most peculiar therapist ,as though they were all part of a huge conspiracy
Of course ,there are elements taken from former movies ("Jacob's ladder" ,"fight club".... ),and the last twenty minutes are a bit disappointing , for gore and violence which were kept to a minimum level so far ,come to the fore ,a la Tarentino .
In spite of these reservations, "stereo " is a good thriller,well acted by both principals , off the beaten track ; and the "explanation" makes sense , despite (or thanks to) the intrusion of the fantasy and horror in the trite world of a motorcycle mechanic.
