"There will never be another you" goes the old song. Then again, some people believe in doppelgangers, doubles to living humans who are ghostly in form and malign in intent.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Asako I & II," which screened in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, blends that musical sentiment with the spook factor of a dodgy double. The title heroine, Asako (Erika Karata), successively falls in love with two guys who could be identical twins, but are strangers to each other and polar opposites in character (both are played by the versatile Masahiro Higashide). One is flighty, self-centered and charismatic; the other loyal, considerate and ever so slightly dull. In romantic drama terms, no contest.
Based on a novel by Tomoka Shibasaki, "Asako I & II" was an unexpected choice for the Cannes competition, that bastion of cinematic art. Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the script, fleshes out his gimmicky premise with the sort of close character observation found in "Happy Hour," his much-praised 2015 ensemble drama, but his basic story is that box-office evergreen: one woman, serving as an audience stand-in, torn between two men.