Sundance 2022: Dual Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Every once in a while comes a film that is just going to be divisive. Dual is certainly an odd one for better or worse but those familiar with the work of Riley Stearns’ last film, The Art of Self-Defense, will be right at home here. Taking the same deadpan, darkly-comedic approach, the film gives it a sci-fi thriller setting. Though that combination may not be as seamless as the former, it is still an entertaining watch that ups the ridiculous factor, becoming somewhat convoluted in the process. That being said, that ridiculous factor won’t be for everyone. Nevertheless, this exploration of identity and what it means to be human and a social commentary about the depiction of violence in the mainstream was not without its issues but is elevated by a career-best lead performance from Karen Gillan. Perhaps it isn’t as deep in its exploration of those aforementioned themes and its abrupt ending will be a sticking point, however, she makes it worth the watch.

Dual follows a woman named Sarah (Gillan) who after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, opts to be cloned but when she later went into remission, she was unable to get her clone decommissioned, triggering a court-mandated duel to the death to determine which version of Sarah would survive. As a character, Sarah will be an acquired taste. The lack of a filter or internal monologue makes for some awkward dialog and moments. Though she had her issues, adding a clone to the equation just made things more complicated. In order to get ready for her dual, Sarah would need to train therefore she enlisted the help of a man named Trent (Paul), making for some hilarious training sequences. This was until the cold war of sorts between the clones moves beyond the brutal while maintaining the tension as the circumstances of what may happen became increasingly clear.

The best part of Dual, as mentioned, was the excellent performance by Gillan as the Sarah clones. Embracing the deadpan, her line delivery was near-perfection and hilarious to watch more often than not. However beneath that deadpan was a flawed woman with plenty of insecurities like the rest of us but just had an odd way of showing it. Showing great range, she brings two compelling character arcs to life as a woman coming to terms with her mortality and another learning what it meant to be alive. Meanwhile, Paul and Koale as Peter were both solid but underused.

In the end, it is better to swing and miss than to not swing at all and for that, Dual should be commended.

*still courtesy of Sundance

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.