Directed and produced by Riley Stearns, Dual is a sci-fi thriller released in 2022. As Sarah (Karen Gillan) finds out she only has a short amount of time left to live due to illness, she requisitions a clone, or “Double”. When Sarah later unexpectedly recovers, she and her Double are set to fight to the death, with the winner becoming the new real Sarah. Sarah enlists the aid of personal trainer Trent (Aaron Paul). Beulah Koale and also stars as Peter, Sarah’s boyfriend, who grows attached to the Double.
+ Gillan essentially plays two roles, in a rare instance of there being limited differences between the two characters she plays (at least at first). Gillan truly makes essentially two versions of the same character, each well worth sympathising with. Aaron Paul’s role is relatively subdued, especially for those expecting anything close to Breaking Bad‘s Jesse, but the chemistry between he and Gillain is a lot of fun
+ I absolutely loved the plot of the movie, and I consider it to be something really unique. Movies have dealt with clones, and the concept of cloning before (including a personal favourite Sam Rockwell movie I can’t really name because that’s the major twist of the movie…) but this one really got me invested in the idea that clones can be something good and useful
+ there is a bit of comedy, albeit mostly of the black comedy variety (something director Stearns has handled before). An early interaction between Sarah and her double made me almost cringe at how poorly one of them came across
– it’s not a real negative, but I would have ended the movie very differently. I don’t know for sure if the ending is entirely truthful, but I never got the feeling it was meant to be a twist ending either
> get it? The dual Sarah’s will duel; it’s a dual meaning
Should you see this film: I really liked this. Karen Gillan is an underrated star, in my mind, and has really evolved out of being just ‘that girl from Doctor Who or Guardians of the Galaxy.’ This was unique enough that I certainly recommend it.
MoshFish Reviews 