Sundance 2022: Sci-fi 'Dual' emphasizes action and comedy over high concept potential

DUAL
US Dramatic Competition

Director: Riley Stearns
Screenwriter: Riley Stearns
Starring: Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul, Beulah Koale

Sundance Synopsis:Recently diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease, Sarah is unsure how to process the news. To help ease her friends’ and family’s impending loss, she is encouraged to participate in a simple futuristic cloning procedure called “Replacement,” after which Sarah’s last days will be spent teaching the clone how to live on as Sarah once she’s gone. But while it takes only an hour for a clone to be made, things become significantly more challenging when that double is no longer wanted.

Review: I imagine that most reviews of "Dual" will inevitably bring up "Swan Song," a recently released film starringMahershala Ali as a man with a terminal disease who chooses to be cloned so that his wife and children will not be alone when he dies. In "Dual," Karen Gillan stars as Sarah, a woman, who is told she has a 98% chance of dying in the near future and decides to have a clone created so that her friends and family won't have to miss her. "Swan Song" is a deep meditation. "Dual" is a goofy afternoon at the movies.

I couldn't be happier. Having enjoyed "Swan Song," the last thing I wanted was for "Dual" to cover similar ground.

If you've seen "The Art of Self-Defense," the 2019 film from writer/director Riley Stearns starring Jesse Eisenberg as a timid young man who joins a local dojo after being attacked by a motorcycle gang, you should know that Sterns loves deadpan humor and awkward characters. Stylistically he's far closer to Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite") or Taika Waititi ("Jojo Rabbit") than he is to Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg. Fortunately, we live in a world where all kinds of filmmaking can exist.

The film begins with a bewildered man standing in the middle of a football field next to table with a random selection of weapons. A large cloth stretched across the 50-yeard line drops. TV cameras roll. As a modern movie goer, it's not hard to deduce that gladiatorial combat is about to happen. The only question is, "Why?" Well, turns out that the fight was to the death and between a man and his clone. That doesn't exactly explain why or what we're seeing but it does set the stakes and helps to define the world for what follows.

Meet Sarah. Her interests include masturbating to porn on her laptop and drinking alcohol while her boyfriend is away on a business trip. She also frequently vomits up large amounts of blood. Really large amounts of blood. Sarah sees a doctor, accidently puts her boyfriend's phone number as the primary contact forcing him a few days later to be the one who tells her (via video chat) that she is dying. So, Sarah gets talked into having a clone made. Turns out everyone prefers her clone. That might be comforting if Sarah was actually dying.

This is where the Highlander (there can be only one) rule kicks in. Sarah will inevitably end up on a football field next to a table covered with weapons. But first, we have to train with Aaron Paul.

The deeper we go into "Dual" the darker the comedy becomes. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea (if it was, Stearns wouldn't be pushing the envelope enough), but if you are in the mood for a silly, bloody, and occasionally vulgar sci-fi comedy "Dual" will more than suffice.