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Dual . movie review

Dual was reviewed by the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered.

Conceptually, Dual might sound familiar. Much like recent shows like Netflix's Living With Yourself and an episode of Amazon's Solos, it tells the story of people facing clones who have been made to replace them, reflecting the growing concern about human annihilation in a digital world, where identity is no longer confined to the physical self. But author and director Riley Stearns takes on the idea in a funny and dark way, which helps him focus on the relationship drama at the center of the film. The film follows the story of a woman named Sarah (Karen Gillan), who, upon learning that she has a terminal illness, demands the birth of a genetic twin to ease the grief of her mother (Maya Paunio) and lover Peter (Beulah Qualy) over her loss. But things soon get complicated when Sarah decides that her clone, who has begun to take control of her life, is no longer wanted.

Visually, the film reflects how far Sarah is from others, and from herself. The frame is often dark, colors are faded, and the camera rarely moves. Ghaylan is often shot in isolated shots, so as an actress she has to walk the line between playing a character that is cold and emotionless but also eye-catching and intriguing. It seems that the secret lies in the way she delivers the dialogue, which is calculated with great accuracy, but the few times she allows herself to express even a hair of emotion or opinion is laughable. It's like watching a robot learn how to be human for a short and imperfect time.

Since her version would be called "Sara's alternate" while Sarah was alive (which would only then be called Sarah), Gillian performs similarly. But it does add just enough life and flavor that the two characters are clearly different on occasion (they have different eye colours, but the dark atmosphere of the film often helps hide that detail). As Sarah's surrogate begins to learn her routine, the way Ghylan views this new version of herself highlights many of the film's main themes. Sarah, of course, feels redeemed, but in a way that reveals deep and pent-up pain that emphasizes the film's dark comedy. And after a while, it begins to resemble a drama-breakup movie, full of intense painful feelings and open feelings of insecurity, where Sarah witnesses her boyfriend in the arms of a new person.

But for her clone's arrogance, she simultaneously reflects her emotional detachment, and a sense of alienation even from her own experiences, as if the devastating news of impending death (and in this case a crumbling relationship) led Sarah to watch her own life from a distance, in the third person. Moreover, the desperate yearning with which Sarah watches her new (and better, as she fears) version can also turn into a sense of idealism for the person she wishes she was.

Gilan's performance is matched by a similar eccentricity throughout Sarah's surroundings, which stems in part from the production details. Where the story actually takes place is ambiguous. It appears to have been written with American sites in mind, as well as American characters, all of whom have American names, and all of them speak with American idioms and accents. but 

What exactly happens in this scenario? The film actually gives a very candid answer in its premise, where we see a man and his version engage in a televised and legally mandated duel, a Hunger Games-style game to the death. But despite this action-packed opening scene, Dual is intentionally silent about its exploration of Sarah. As she is very stoic and formal when she video chats with Peter. This character looks like it was taken straight from one of the films by director Yorgos Lanthimos. You may also be one of the many newly cloned people who are learning to take the place of someone else. Even when she decides to clone herself and teach her clone how to live her life, a process known as "replacement," her behaviors and decision-making appear to be on autopilot. So much so that one wonders if her diagnosis was a relief. 

Author and director Riley Stearns turns depression and disappointment into a hilarious encounter with death

But the grueling fun doesn't pass from the first half to the second, which mostly follows Sarah undergoing rigorous training with a combat instructor and weapons (Aaron Paul) in preparation for her duel, but these scenes contain enough momentum to be entertaining. And these scenes have a wonderful emotional turn, as we see Sarah, who once succumbed to her fate, now desperately wants to survive, as if only to spite her surrogate, who seems to make her mother and lover happier than she was. But this is also followed by the film's temporary detachment from its most powerful elements, when a potential reconciliation comes along and pushes Sarah off her own collision course. The film begins with new ideas that shed light on the psychological and emotional effects of this strange experience, but it also turns away from these ideas just as quickly.

With appropriate music by Emma Ruth Randle filling the soundscape with electronic wailing, the film is at its best depicting depression with a masterful aesthetic, with occasional flashes of stunningly boisterous surrealism. The second half of the movie takes on a few turns with a lot more plot detail than the first half, but it all is justified in the end, as it allows Dual to offer an even more grotesque version of its premise.

Conclusion

Dual is a darkly comedic sci-fi story that puts a dying woman, Sarah (Karen Gillan), on a collision course with her clone surrogate. Author and director Riley Stearns turns depression and disappointment into a hilarious encounter with death and a distinct self-portrait story in a grotesque film with a particularly grotesque performance of the heroine.