DUAL FILM REVIEW — 2022 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
DUAL is a bizarre, genre meshing film that creates a world of its own and I dug it. Karen Gillian and Aaron Paul shine.
There is a scene in DUAL where Sarah (Karen Gillian) is told by Trent (Aaron Paul) that if she is short on money to be able to pay for her combat training classes that they could set up an arrangement that is beneficial to both of them. This joke pays off later in the movie, which I won’t give away here, but the exchange isn’t what you think and it leads to big awkward laughs.
That encompasses the type of film Riley Stearns’ has made here. Just like he did with his previous work THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE, Stearns’ creates his own unique world where the characters speak in a way almost void of emotion. A flat and calculated delivery of lines that add to the comedic and dramatic elements of the film.
Karen Gillian plays Sarah, a woman seems to be wandering through life with no purpose. She video chats with her boyfriend who never seems to be around, or wants to be around for that matter. Sarah is then given life altering news after waking up in a pool of her own blood and decides that it may just be a cold because that’s what some of the symptoms said online. There is a great, hilarious exchange between the doctor (Sanna-June Hyde) who is giving Sarah this news of how Sarah has a 98% change of dying. Sarah is then offered Replacement, which a dying person can partake in that clones them and then in their last days, the original Sarah would spend time training her clone on everything Sarah likes and dislikes. This way her loved ones don’t have to deal with losing the original Sarah. Until Sarah is makes a miraculous recovery and wants to have the Sarah Double decommissioned. Problem is, Double Sarah loves her existence and so both are required to have a duel to the death in a year to decide which Sarah will ultimately exist.
This is where in another director’s hand’s this film maybe would turn into a melodrama. Stearns is too unique of a voice to go that route. Instead he uses dark comedy, deadpan delivery in dialogue, and welcomes you into a familiar yet slightly more bizarre world.
Having the duals duel was a brilliant choice that leads to some of the films more dark and comedic moments. Also introduces us to Aaron Paul’s combat trainer Trent who is such an interesting character, you want a spin-off movie or series featuring him. Trent trains Sarah by showing her terrible, violent films and showing her slides of other deaths so she can be prepared for battle. Paul is the perfect actor for Stearns’ dialogue. Paul effortlessly speaks in the flat dialogue delivery but is such a gifted actor that when he does it he fully embodies a character with wit and confidence.
The film does an exceptional job of striking the perfect balance of being in on its own joke, but also treating the characters in subject matter with extreme care. There are moments of comedy but at the core is a deeper film about identity and purpose. What makes us, us and if we choose to live as our authentic selves or as a better copy of what other people want us to be.
Karen Gillian knocks her role out of the park and this is her best work to date. Essentially playing 3 characters. The original Sarah before the diagnosis, The double Sarah, and the Sarah after the diagnosis. All three characters are played differently and effectively. Hilarious and heartbreaking.
This film is weird, bizarre, funny and at times dark but if you surrender yourself to it and just enjoy the ride you will see a unique writer and director’s voice who has something to say.
