It seems to be a dystopian future or a "retro-future" like Terry Gilliam created in the brilliant film Brazil (1985). It's meant to invoke a bleak, creepy vibe that is somewhat reminiscent of our odd dreams (or nightmares) where modern realistic things are often combined with primitive unrealistic ones - much like in dreams that don't seem weird until we wake up from them.
As an example, the copy room scenes in The Double have the kind of complexity and surreality you would expect within a dream. In our current world, we can make a photocopy using a compact multifunctional machine that we simply set (directly or networked) for number of copies and to print automatically. In this film, the office scanner/printer must first be set with a clunky primitive dial and button to send a request for a number of copies. Then one must enter a room with workers that are needed to activate the request, while a bulky machine with large tubing is able to somehow produce the desired copy. If this scene was in a dream, the functionality would seem to make sense until the process was recognized as unrealistic upon waking. In a conscious state, this film presents a world where things are very familiar, but disturbingly at odds with our reality. That's why it succeeds at feeling so uncomfortable. I just wish the story was better.
Brazil was extremely successful at creating a creepy, "surreal-but-real" world in a vastly superior way to The Double. If you haven't seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. The film will likely leave you more satisfied with its story, while also being less ambiguous. It left me thinking about it for days.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846
"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
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