Sundance Film Review: Dual

Sundance Film Review: Dual
Director: Riley Stearns

XYZ Films
Premieres: 01.22 at 6:00 PM MST

It’s always a bit jarring when two movies with a strikingly similar premise come out close to one another. On the surface, Dual—the dry, dark science fiction comedy from writer-director Riley Stearns—may seem like exactly the same film as the Mahershala Ali vehicle Swan Song, but the approaches to the concept couldn’t be more different.

Dual tells the story of Sarah (Karen Gillan, Guardians of the Galaxy, Jumanji: The Next Level), a young woman who finds herself diagnosed with a rare terminal disease and is presented with the option having herself cloned so that a “Replacement” can step in and live the rest of her life with her loved ones once she is gone. Sarah teaches her double how to be Sarah, preparing her to take over the most important relationships in Sarah’s life, including her romance with her boyfriend, Peter (Beulah Koale, Hawaii Five-0), and the sometimes smothering dynamic she feels from her mother (Maija Paunio, Bordertown). 

As Sarah grows to accept her impending death, her illness goes into complete remission. The problem here is that legally, there can only be one Sarah, and Sarah’s double doesn’t intend to give up the life she was created to live. The law provides one option in such cases: a duel to the death.

Dual is a more low key and deadpan than one might expect given the outrageous premise, and Stearns (The Club, The Art of Self Defense) adopts dark and edgy humor that is both unsettling and at times downright depressing but still pretty damn funny most the way. The most important factor for Dual is Gillan, adding two great comic performances to her increasingly impressive filmography. Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) gives a delightful supporting performance as Trent, the dueling coach whom Sarah hires to train her in the art of killing and developing the stomach for it, and Paul gets a lot of comic mileage out of knowing how to play it completely straight without taking himself too seriously. 

Many of the best moments come down to the chemistry between Gillan and Gillan. Dual is a rare film that might have actually been well served by being just a bit longer. On the other hand, Stearns is quite shrewd when it comes to avoiding milking the creative possibilities, and the movie lacks the padding that was so prevalent in Swan Song. It also lacks the overt, science-fiction production design and feel of that film, instead taking place in a world that is identical to ours with one obvious, major exception. While it works most of the time, this was probably the choice that felt most questionable to me.

Dual stops short of being a classic, but it’s a winning comedy that thrives thanks to its leading lady. Whether the film goes on to become a bit hit or not, it’s got serious cult movie potential if it can find the right audience. –Patrick Gibbs