I'm not surprised by the relatively low IMDb rating for this movie here on IMDb, a '5.8' at the time I write this review. For this viewer however, I found the concept of the film highly original and totally whack. I'm sure the folks at 'Black Mirror' would be proud. I think the average person watching the film tries to look at it as a serious picture when it's really not meant to be. The situations and dialog are intentionally absurd to the point of being hysterical. The high water mark for me was when Sarah (Karen Gillan) was advised by her attorney (Darren McStay) to hire a combat trainer for a forced duel against her clone, having overcome a ninety eight percent probability of dying. Much of the dialog in the story is couched in deadpan black humor; the back and forth between Sarah and her doctor regarding the unaccountable two percent was brilliantly scripted. I also got a big kick out of combat trainer Trent's (Aaron Paul) suggestion of an alternate method of paying for his services. Come on now, you all know where you thought that was going now, didn't you? When it turned out to be hip-hop lessons, I thought I'd fall off the couch! Look, I'm probably not going to be able to convince the haters of this movie to change their mind, but if you come at it from a different perspective, you might find the story creatively amusing. There's also the uniquely double entendre'd nature of the title, since the 'duals' of the story are destined to 'duel' for the right of survivorship.
P. S. For what it's worth, I believe it was the Sarah clone who killed Sarah in the woods by poisoning her with the tainted bottle of water; note the look on the clone's face when she suggests taking a second sip. Sarah's car appears dented up and winds up marooned in the traffic circle at the close of the picture because the Sarah clone didn't know how to drive, admitting that she mixed up the functioning of the steering wheel with the brake pedal. Topping things off, she screamed her frustration because she was now trapped into living Sarah's life, one which she sought to change upon meeting Peter (Beulah Koale) and Sarah's mother (Maija Paunio), but realizing now she couldn't do it.
Dual
2022
Action / Comedy / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Dual
2022
Action / Comedy / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Plot summary
A terminally ill woman opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
July 10, 2022 at 02:18 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
"You always kill the ones you love."
Dry/dark humour with an interesting story
I would like to meet writer/director Riley Stearns. His films have a very unique sense of humour about them and I would like to know if that's how he naturally is. They are very dry and quite dark. You never quite know if you're supposed to be laughing or not. I think most of the time you are.
The film begins with a very intriguing opening scene featuring a duel. At this point I was wondering if the title of the movie had been misspelled. It soon became apparent however that it had not. The film went in a very different direction to what I was expecting and I really enjoyed it.
This was a film where I had absolutely no idea how it was going to end. There were dozens of different conclusions it could have gone with. I really liked the one they picked. It was dark, thought-provoking and interesting. I really enjoyed 'Dual' and would recommend it. 8/10.
Imposter Syndrome...
Imagine there's a clone, who's now living in your home, an almost perfect doppelganger, taken straight from the lab's hanger. It's a sympathetic swap, as your time has come to drop, all your family need to know, is you'll never let them go.
Though your clock continues ticking, while your feet are all still kicking, and the one who thinks they're you, has made an impressive debut. But the law has made a rule, to remove one in a duel, when your name is on the roster, you can fight your own imposter.
Not that original and with little reflective value.