Movie Review: ‘Dual’

Review by James Lindorf

You most likely know Karen Gillan as Ruby “Killer of Men” Roundhouse from the Jumanji series or Nebula in the MCU. Still, she is equally at home in her new quirky sci-fi comedy “Dual.” The dark comedy from writer-director Riley Stearns (“The Art of Self-Defense”) finds humor in the absurd and topics like terminal illnesses, infidelity, kitchen accidents, and crossbow-related injuries. “Dual” will begin a limited theatrical run on April 15th before coming to streaming platforms on May 20th.

“Dual is set in a world more like our own than your typical sci-fi fare; there only seems to be one change, rapid cloning. Sarah (Gillan) spends most of her nights drinking and watching reality TV, waiting for her husband Peter (Beulah Koale) to finish an extended work trip. When what she thought was a terrible hangover leads to a terminal diagnosis, Sarah signs up for the cloning program to ease the loss of her friends and family. However, Sarah’s life takes another turn when she makes a sudden and miraculous recovery. When her efforts to fully reclaim her life and have the clone decommissioned fail, it leads to a court-mandated duel to the death. She has one year to work with her sensei Trent (Aaron Paul) to prepare her mind and body for the fight of her life.

Everyone has spent time daydreaming about how happy they would be if they were a little more charismatic, intelligent, or better-looking. “Dual” posits the depressing theory that maybe your life sucks, and this new and improved version of yourself will be crushed under it as well. As heartbreaking as it is, Sarah loves her life. No matter what it does to her or her clone, she will fight for it. Just don’t expect her to do it too enthusiastically because while a lot is going on in “Dual,” there is no joy or fun to be found. Its jokes will not leave your belly shaking or your eyes watering, but be prepared to blow a lot of air out of your nose aggressively. The humor is bleak, and so is the cinematography. The film is filled with drab colors and set in a city whose sky is always threatening rain.

The best thing that “Dual” has going for it is the commitment of Gillan and Paul, who play a pair of almost lovable weirdos. Gillan, in particular, is fantastic as both Sarah and the clone. Easily the best non-Trent scene in the film is the pair of Sarahs getting to know each other, and the clone is killing Sarah with cutting statements about her style and appearance. We always joke that some actors are just playing themself or playing the same character repeatedly. But it is a unique experience to see Gillan standing next to herself playing two people who are at most 5% different. Each character undergoes a slight shift in personality throughout the film, becoming more or less like the other in crucial ways but always maintaining that 5% rift. Gillan beautifully walks the tightrope that connects the two and delivers a clone that is still a distinguishable character.

With comedy being so subjective, the weakest element of “Dual” is that Stearns tried too hard to make “Dual” quirky and interesting. Every time he had to decide where to take a character, he chose to push them to the extreme. He does so to the point that eventually, they become unrelatable, and audiences are left watching people who are either sad, weird, a jerk, or some combination of the three. The style of humor and this all-out approach will be perfect for some people, and “Dual” will be their underrated movie of the year. Others might last 20 minutes before they can’t take it anymore. Most people will appreciate the performances and craftsmanship but remember “Dual” more for what it could have been. I came in wanting to love this movie, but it left me feeling cold, and as a result, the best I can give “Dual” is a 3 out of 5.

Rating: R for violent content, some sexual content, language and graphic nudity.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Director: Riley Stearns
Producer: Nate Bolotin, Maxime Cottray, Lee Kim, Nick Spicer, Riley Stearns, Aram Tertzakian
Writer: Riley Stearns
Release Date (Theaters): April 15th
Release Date (Streaming): May 20th,
Runtime: 1h 34m
Distributor: RLJE Films