HOTCHKA Movie Review: Dual

© RLJE Films

Dual has two Karen Gillans for the price of one in this dark sci-fi satire.
by Jeremy Fogelman

Cast: Karen Gillan, Beulah Koale, Theo James, Aaron Paul
Rating: ★★

In 2019 the movie The Art of Self-Defense was released by director/writer Riley Stearns, a super-dry, very particular sort of black comedy. It definitely worked for me, but I could easily tell that it was not the sort of thing everyone would like. In that movie, the characters have a very matter-of-fact way of talking, even about uncomfortable, awkward, or emotional moments -- even if they will show emotionality in other, more silent scenes. So I had certain expectations about this one.

Dual is the next film from Riley Stearns, who also writes and directs in his own quirky style. The movie takes place in the not so distant future where most things are the same, except for one particular little twist: cloning of people is entirely possible and actually quite common. We start the movie watching a man fight in a death match against himself, although we don’t know much else -- and soon things begin to make sense.

Karen Gillan stars as Sarah, a woman in a sort of decline -- she ignores calls from her mother (Maija Paunio) and feels distant from her boyfriend Peter (Beulah Koale). She’s basically drifting through life aimlessly, and it seems like there’s nothing much for her -- until she gets sick and is informed she has a fatal disease. The sort of vague, hyper-unique disease that means she’ll be perfectly fine for a few months and then suddenly die.

But this means Sarah is the perfect candidate for a replacement, a clone of her that can be used as a salve for her family and friends that would miss her. Of course, the new clone wouldn’t have her memories, which means that the Double would need to follow Sarah around and learn everything about her. So far so good (and odd), and Sarah introduces her double to her mother and boyfriend.

Unfortunately things don’t go so well in multiple ways, primarily that Sarah makes a miraculous recovery -- and the law says that only one copy of one person can exist, so in a year Sarah and her double must fight to the death. It’s a patently absurd premise, presenting a world where life is interchangeable, but it leads into the next phase of the movie -- training.

© RLJE Films

Sarah starts an entertaining training regime to survive with local dual trainer Trent (Aaron Paul), who definitely understands the assignment. Everything spirals in increasingly chaotic ways, until you begin to wonder if anyone will get out of it happy. The movie, like Stearns last movie, is very dark and has the same sort of offbeat, odd dialogue humor.

Just like The Art of Self-Defense, I found Dual to be engaging and funny, even if the underlying theme and message is a bit ridiculous and feels a bit thin from a satirical perspective. Karen Gillan completely manages the absurd dialogue and speaking style with ease, and does great work to show the differentiation between the two versions of Sarah.

I can’t say that this will work for everyone, even though I quite liked it -- I’d say that if you liked the director’s last movie, this one will also be up your alley. If you didn’t like it or aren’t into dark comedies, I don’t think this one will work -- but if you’re curious, I think it’s worth a shot to see whether or not you can appreciate this particular unusual film.

Dual has a run time of 1 hour 35 minutes and is rated R for violent content, some sexual content, language and graphic nudity.

Get tickets for Dual from Fandango!

 

More action and twists make Insurgent better than Divergent

I'm coming late, but not too late, to the Divergent series having only seen the first film in preparation for the press screening earlier in the week. The plot of the first film basically tells us that a post-something future which has ruined the world sees its surviving humans divided into factions which are supposed to help society rebuild with everyone in their proper place.

The factions all have names like Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peaceful and welcoming), Erudite (intelligent), Candor (honesty) and Dauntless (bravery). In a bit of plotting that's not quite explained, every citizen is tested to see which faction suits them best, but at a certain point during their teenage years there is a choosing ceremony where they get to decide which faction they want to belong to. Once you choose, you can never go back and if you don't fit in you become "factionless." Some people test with traits belonging to more than one faction, the Divergent, and they are seen as a great threat to society.

The new film Insurgent (or The Divergent Series: Insurgent … the title is presented on screen both ways) picks up some time after the events of the conclusion of Divergent with Tris (Shailene Woodley), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Peter (Miles Teller) and Dauntless leader Four (Theo James) hiding out with the Amitys until they can gather the rest of the Dauntless together and try to fight Jeanine (Kate Winslet) after she secretly starts a war with the Abnegations, fearing they are trying to take over rule from the Erudite.

Of course, there are many monkey-wrenches thrown into the plan when Four's mother, whom he believed was dead, shows up and offers to join him in the fight with her Factionless tribe. There's also a mysterious box which Jeanine has possession of, found buried in the family home of Tris, that only a 100% Divergent has the ability to open. One guess on who Jeanine needs. But is what she thinks is in the box going to help her cause or destroy everything she believes? (If you've read the books, you probably already know the answer to that question … and there is at least one more book/movie in the series).

I found Divergent to be an overly long origin story that had too many unanswered questions about this world, this society and who/why people are divided and why they can choose to go against their inborn faction. The sequel does amp up the action quite a bit, gives us some answers as to who came up with the factions idea, but has discarded the whole choosing thing as Tris, Four and their group have pretty much sent their society into a tizzy. There is action, betrayals and unlikely heroes by the time the second chapter ends, and of course it lays the groundwork for the next film (and hopefully they won't feel the need to divide it into two movies).

Woodley, James, Elgort, Teller and Winslet have all settled into their roles, but it's nice to see a little bit of shading as some of them begin to rethink what they're doing. Some flip, some don't and those make for some nice surprises. New additions to the cast include Octavia Spencer, who is woefully under-used as the Amity leader, and Naomi Watts, also under-used but will perhaps have a larger role in the next film. Bad guys Jai Courtney and Mekhi Phifer also return.

Robert Schwentke takes over the directorial reins from Neil Burger and he gives the film a bit of a different look, from the sunny outdoors of the Amity village to the cold, sleek lab where Jeanine uses a host of Divergents to try to open that box (which looks almost like a large version of the cube from Hellraiser). The film also features quite a bit of off-screen violence (people clearly being shot in the head by Tris, Four and others) but very little blood. The special effects are also amped up quite a bit, especially as Tris is hooked to Jeanine's machine. The film is also presented in 3D this time around which makes the environment feel bigger but rarely does anything leap off the screen at you.

Divergent was a bit over-long at two-hours-twenty-minutes, but Insurgent is a little leaner with a two-hour run time that doesn't seem to lag a bit. With the story now past the Tris origin story, it becomes more engaging, interesting and surprising. I even found myself getting a little teary-eyed at the end as I started to relate the Divergents to those in our society today that are seen as different and scary for no real reason. This social commentary does add another layer to the story and I'm now curious to see how it all ends.