‘Dual’ Review
Stars: Karen Gillan, Beulah Koale, Aaron Paul, Theo James, Maija Paunio, June Hyde | Written and Directed by Riley Stearns
Karen Gillan plays dual roles in this sci-fi black comedy about a terminally ill woman who clashes with the clone she orders to replace her after she’s gone. The third feature from writer-director Riley Stearns (Faults, The Art of Self-Defense), it’s a decidedly offbeat, darkly funny satire that grapples with some big questions.
Dual is set in a world where the terminally ill are permitted to clone themselves, with the replacement taking over their lives once the patient dies. However, there’s a catch – if, for some reason, the patient survives their illness, the clone and the original must duel to the death in front of a television audience, with the survivor earning the right to the identity in question. We see a taste of this in the prologue, with a young man (Theo James) engaged in a high-stakes battle against an unseen opponent.
Enter Sarah (Gillan), a downbeat young woman who has unfulfilling relationships with her mother (Maija Paunio) and her disinterested boyfriend Peter (Beulah Koale). When Sarah is diagnosed with a fatal stomach disease, she takes the replacement option, only to discover that both her mother and her boyfriend actually prefer the company of the clone, who goes by the name of Sarah’s Double (also Gillan).
When Sarah unexpectedly survives her disease, the clone refuses to be decommissioned, and a date is set for their court-appointed duel to the death. Discovering that maybe life is worth fighting for after all, Sarah enlists the aid of personal combat trainer Trent (Aaron Paul) to get her in shape. But will she be a match for…herself?
Gillan is terrific in the dual roles, delivering a masterclass in deadpan character work, while subtly delineating the differences between the two still-quite-miserable Sarahs. Paul is equally good (in a role that recalls the part played by Alessandro Nivola in The Art of Self-Defense), and he sparks enjoyable chemistry with Gillan – their extensive training sequences are a constant delight, while their final two scenes together are a weird and wonderful one-two punch.
As well as making good on its central Dual / Duel joke, Stearns’ script explores several complex and interesting themes, from attitudes towards death, to the destructiveness of self-hatred to questions of identity and finding your place in the world. It’s also very funny, providing you key into its extremely dark, utterly deadpan sensibility early on.
Though Dual is nominally set in small-town America, it was actually shot in the Finnish city of Tampere. As a result, the majority of the supporting cast are clearly Finnish, and whether that was a condition of the shoot or a deliberate decision, it works brilliantly, giving the film a distinctly off-kilter atmosphere, as everyone speaks in the same stilted, not-quite-right manner, with all the intonations slightly off.
In short, Dual is one of the best genre films of the year, delivering chills, jet-black laughs and existential introspection in equal measure. It also confirms Stearns as a serious talent to watch.
