'Dual' Review: Humans Battle Their Clones To The Death In The Sundance Dark Comedy From Writer-Director Riley Stearns

Arlington TX

28 January, 2022

6:53 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report January 27, 2022 "Dual" is the second film in what I like to call Riley Stearns' "combat series." The follow-up to 2019's dark and entertaining "The Art of Self-Defense" with Jesse Eisenberg, once again features a protagonist, Sarah (Karen Gillan), in a dojo training so they can protect themselves during a conflict. Aaron Paul in a deadpan performance plays the sensei tasked with helping Sarah survive Hunger Games-style combat against her clone in the unconventional comedy. Imagine the scenario. A football field with spectators in the stands. On one end stands a man (nice cameo by Theo James of the "Divergent" series) next to a table with 5 weapons. On the other end, his clone (also played by Theo James) is next to a table with an identical set of armaments. A large partition at centerfield is dropped and the dual duel is underway. Remember the line "There can be only one" from "Highlander"? Same principle here. In this near-future scenario, the law states there can't be two of you (we'll get into that later) so the winner of the televised match gets to live. Let the Hunger Games begin! Karen Gillan, who kicked some major butt in "Gunpowder Milkshake" (she's also Nebula in the MCU), plays Sarah a dull homebody who avoids her mother's phone calls, watches pool orgy porn, and acts disinterested when her boyfriend Peter (Beulah Koale) facetimes while out of town on business (and possibly a bit of pleasure). She wakes up one morning to a blood-soaked pillow so it's off the ER where she's diagnosed with a rare terminal illness. Sarah doesn't seem shocked, in fact, she's rather calm. Everyone in the film is in deadpan mode as if they're zombies just going through the motions. The doctor informs Sarah that there is a 98% chance that she will die. When she asks about the other 2%, the doctor tells her that's the margin of error in the stats so it's really 100%. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.