Dual Review: A Clever Premise Runs Out of Steam
A woman (Karen Gillan) must fight her clone to decide who can live her life in Dual.
Karen Gillan plays double duty in a dry sci-fi black comedy that runs out of steam. Dual imagines a world where the terminally ill can replace themselves with clones. These doppelgängers, known as "doubles", learn to be you until the end. Then seamlessly take over your life so friends and relatives don't experience losing a loved one. You can probably guess where the hitch comes. Dual had me hooked until halfway through the second act. The film then loses its luster with a banal climax that sidesteps the unusual premise. Dual should have stuck to its duel guns and followed through on the established conflict.
The film opens with a frightened man (Theo James) on a football field. The lights turn on, cameras role, and a duel commences. We then see Sarah (Gillan) pining away for her boyfriend, Peter (Buelah Koale). He's away on business and doesn't have any interest in her video chats. Sarah throws up blood after a night of lonely drinking. She goes to the doctor and gets a tragic diagnosis. She has a terminal condition.
Sarah decides to undergo "replacement" for Peter and her mother's (Maija Paunio) well-being. The "Double" is cranked out within the hour. Sarah takes the Double home to start the acclimation process. Nearly a year later, Sarah continues to live while the Double is clearly better liked by Peter and her mother. Sarah's stunned to learn that her illness is in complete remission. But the Double refuses to be "decommissioned." A duel is set in a year to decide who gets to be Sarah.
Dual and Fatal Outcomes
Dual has every character on board with a fatal outcome. There's little to no emotion over a fight to the death. Sarah, who has trouble expressing her feelings, looks like a drama queen compared to the stoic ensemble. The supporting cast could be robots. Director/writer Riley Stearns (The Art of Self-Defense) uses their casual response to sadistic violence as a comedic base. This allows her preparation for the showdown to be humorous. It's a hit-or-miss approach. I laughed a few times. Then found the deadpan reactions to be staged and phony.
Aaron Paul steals the show as Trent. He's a cheap "combat trainer" that Sarah hires to prepare for the duel. He tries to instill a killer instinct and pound away her sympathetic responses. Trent also serves as the primary explainer for the duel process. The combatants get five weapons. But they don't know what the killing implements will be. Trent's fighting logic and "alternative forms of payment" are the best parts of the film.
Riley Stearns inserts bureaucratic exposition every time the duel is questioned. There's even a constitutional amendment concerning clone rights. I give him credit for the small details. But he loses creative juice significantly on two narrative fronts. The Double getting bored with Sarah's lame life was expected. The third act then goes in a direction that I couldn't accept. Sarah loses all critical thinking skills. She behaves in a way that's not realistic for her character. Stearns' resolve is a complete cop-out. Dual limps to a feeble ending.
