In Doubles, we're first introduced to the titular Trinidadian food by Dhani (Sanjiv Boodu), a young Trinidadian street vendor who is fed up with struggling to make a living selling the dish alongside his mother. After their family business is robbed, Dhani becomes desperate for a change and flies to Toronto to convince his estranged father, Ragbir (Errol Sitahal), to hand over ownership of the family's land so they can escape their precarious situation.
But things take a turn when Dhani realizes Ragbir is far worse off than he and his mother had previously thought. Instead of being a successful chef, Ragbir works as a dishwasher and lives in poverty himself. Complicating matters further, Dhani realizes Ragbir's health is critically failing, forcing Dhani to confront his resentment toward his father for leaving.
As we witness Dhani reconnect with his father, director Ian Harnarine cultivates life around their cuisine, including the doubles that were initially depicted as a burden to Dhani. While Dhani and Ragbir work to understand one another and heal their relationship, the pair expresses their care for each other through preparing Trinidadian meals. As Dhani explores Toronto, we also see how different Caribbean diasporic communities connect and unite amid differences over food.
Based on his 2011 short film Doubles with Slight Pepper (produced by Spike Lee), Harnarine's film takes a unique angle within themes of immigration, emphasizing the parallels between the lives of father and son as they reckon with their challenges and sacrifices. As Dhani spends more time in Toronto caring for his father, he starts to envision a life for himself in the city, and we see how the two are more alike than they realize, both father and son experiencing the liminality of living between two places and cultures. Though much of the film provides a feel-good narrative around food as a means of finding belonging, it also displays the reality of poverty, racism and loss that Caribbean and other diasporic communities face in Canada.
The strongest elements of the film are the performances by Boodhu and Sitahal, who masterfully convey a strained and stubborn yet, beneath it all, loving father-son dynamic that invites us to care deeply about each character's journey. A lively Caribbean soundtrack accompanies the film and often contrasts with the dark and harsh Canadian winter we see Dhani experience for the first time.
Harnarine shows true care and intention in how the culture around Caribbean food is depicted in the film. It's a touching tribute to the immigrant experience and forgiveness, and undoubtedly will leave its audience hungry for some doubles.