As the sci-fi action movie clones are likely expecting, it’s not what they will get in this one.
Hypothetically, Karen Gillan performs against Karen Gillan in this high concept but low key sci-fi thriller. She plays Sarah, who’s young and has been given a dismal prognosis after her wish for a second opinion was unhelpful as the physician has already told her that she has the disease with an incorrigible nature and a mere 2% chance of going into remission.
Having received this heartbreaking information, Sarah opts to pay for what she terms a ‘replacement,’ a reproduction of herself that will be raised within her current lifestyle and usurp her after her demise. This is because she does not desire her mother and partner to be lonely in the event that she has passed away.
Following the creation of the clone (which only took an hour following her provision of saliva for the cloning process), Sarah begins to ponder the significance of her own life.
In principle, the film resembles the later made Swan Song featuring Mahershala Ali in which the patriarch of the family opts for the last resort of duplicating himself in order to not let his family suffer a life without him. While that was a weepy, culturally uplifting and passion driven piece, it’s not the case with the topics at hand, Dual is of another breed altogether, although defining it is a challenge because it is a suspense drama which lacks suspense and a black comedy that is not very comedic.
Even though the movie does not subscribe to any one genre, Dual is still worth watching. Gillan is well suited for second Sarah as the scenes are rarely unconvincing where both of the actors’ two Sarah’s appear together. Just like Ali regrets turning out a clone because of seeing the adverse effects his double caused to his family, Gillan’s regret too starts to show.
However, that is where the similarities in the story end as Sarah miraculously makes a recovery from whatever sickness she has been suffering from recently. Of course, this is good news but since her double went life’s course it is not easily discarded. Sarah is instructed that because she is a borderline clone, she has to follow a court sponsored dual to the death since it is necessary that one and only one version of her exists. We do not really know why this is the case, but like Sarah, we are made to believe that this is how it is in the future.
This news resounds in Sarah’s ears for a long time. At this point, she starts preparing for a dual with the assistance of combat trainer and her instructor, Trent (Aaron Paul) who teaches her all the essentials of fighting. In his command lessons variety appears un-conventional from training for a fight to sketchy how to video clips. Still, thanks to the latter, Sarah manages to turn herself into a killer regardless. But there are also differences in what it entails to practice the kill, as Sarah learns when she does not obey Trent’s pleas and goes through with the directive to kill the dog. Thus, the reason why Sarah has not disposed off this Double who has been soiling her life appears clear.
The plot is quite engaging as well, but I will refrain myself from going to the rest of the story at this point. Let us just say that it is anything but easy to defeat her won clone. The film rarely goes to places most would expect so that is a nice change of pace because it could have easily been another battle royale copycat of The Hunger Games and The 6th Day.
The first sequence where one man (Theo James) seems to be fighting his look-alike gives a certain impression of something wild and violent but that is a bit of a false expectation as Dual moves towards different areas as the plot unfolds.
Even though it occurs in the future time, filmmaker Riley Stearns does not bring that sparkle or shiny objects which are usually found in films of these kinds. This could be due to lack of funds however the absence of spectacle adds to the strengths of Dual since such an effect would detract attention from the key idea of the film. It is about Sarah and the moral choices she goes through rather than being a mindless film like Gemini Man with two lookalikes facing against each other.
So then, expectations should be adjusted since, this is not a film full of action packed scenes but rather, it is about exploring existence. Here, the emphasis is more on Sarah rather than the dual instead of what one would expect Dual to be about the struggles of the clone the movie zooms in on Sarah and her reconciliation with the sense of purpose in her life.
Looking at everything, then this is not the best film one can come across. Apart from the clone (the one with personality), most of the actors are very stiff, and constipated if you will, and are really two dimensional so the film’s emotional aspect is never fully appealing. This could be by design so I cannot criticize the director in that respect if perhaps they are but the later parts of the film would have been more convincing if there was a character that was developed enough to be sympathetic toward.
Irrespective of that fact, Dual is still worth a watch. Gillan gives two convincing performances, there are a plethora of twists and turns that goodness knows will keep us interested, and the conclusion is sure to provoke chatter long after the last credits have faded. If you go into this expecting a near thriller rather than a tearjerker, you might be able to enjoy this one.
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