I just got done watching this film and first of all I want to say how incredible it was. But about the doppelgangers, I think there's various reasons as to why the characters seem so afraid. Like another user mentioned, there was a part of the brother's notes that mentioned the realities are kept separate, meaning some characters could easily associate interacting with alternate realities as a bad idea (although at least one version of Mikey pays this no regard and assaults another).
But I think a lot of it has to do with internal conflict/anxiety about themselves. How would you feel knowing that there is another you out there? It can make you feel insignificant, you lack some form of individual identity that you thought provided you with a sense of self and you in a way begin to have an existential crisis. How can I be sure that I am me when 'I' am seeing myself? Is the other me essentially, more 'me' than myself? If the characters interacted with their counter-parts, they would literally stare at their insignificance in the face. Furthermore, the discussion on how all these universes stem from different choices leads to anxieties. 'What would I be like if I didn't do X or did Y?' 'Would I be better?' It would be terrifying to see what you could be, good or bad and have to confront yourself from an outsider perspective as you lose your subjective justification that you are living your life and there's nothing you can do about it.
I feel like Emily definitely had this towards the end of the film, hence her constant search through the dark zone for a house where everything seems fine. She comes from a reality that is broken, her relationships are strained (interactions with guests at the house seems as though no one hardly knows each other/how to deal with issues they all have- countless things get broken in the realities she is in, more than just a sign of the universe, but a metaphor) whereas the house she finds is idealistic. Emily, to me, feels scared that she could essentially collapse with her reality and everything is for nothing, and another self will have the idealistic life she always dreamed of, the life she could have had (despite the dancing failure) if she wasn't so hesitant in her choices etc. The only way to overcome the weaknesses in herself is to face and kill the other self, representing all the things she's scared to face (the past that might of been) and justify to herself that she holds the power and is the 'true' Emily.
It feels like a lot of things really, both the anxiety and confusion of the situation, the countless possibilities of what the other person might be like, the knock-on effects and the realisation of the insignificance of yourself/facing yourself from the outside. It doesn't feel like every character is scared for the same reasons, or to the same degree.
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