Spoiler Warning: Dual (2022)
Some filmmakers create stories; others create worlds. Most of the directors and writers in the latter category make big genre films, think George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but there are some independent artists who craft alternate realities which require the audience to accept an unusual realm where everything doesn’t make sense. A prime example of this would be Yorgos Lanthimos, who, in films like The Lobster, establishes a world where things are similar to our own, but many things just feel slightly off. There are strange customs, people talking in an overly formalistic way, and characters making odd decisions.
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Films of this nature use these uncanny and heightened settings to point out things about our own society that we’ve come to accept but maybe should reexamine. Riley Stearns, whose film Dual was just released in select theaters and on-demand, is a filmmaker in this tradition.
Like 2019’s The Art of Self-Defense, Dual is a pitch-black absurdist comedy that has a lot on its mind. While The Art of Self-Defense focused its satirical critique on toxic masculinity, Dual is broader in its approach, tackling diverse topics such as healthcare, media, bureaucracy, and identity. The film stars Karen Gillan as Sarah, a woman with a terminal diagnosis. To make her death easier for her boyfriend (Beulah Koale) and mother (Maija Paunio), Sarah clones herself so they won’t have to mourn her when she passes away.
However, things get complicated when she survives despite the 100% fatal nature of her disease. This means she will now have to fight her clone to the death in a televised public showdown. The winner gets to live as Sarah and the loser, well, dies. To prepare for her fight, Sarah hires a trainer, Trent, played by Aaron Paul. The film’s plot and striking tone lead to many questions about identity and what it means to be yourself.
Unfamiliar Territory
RLJE Films
Riley Stearns’ stylized writing and directing give the film an almost alien quality to its characters’ interactions. The lines are delivered in an uncomfortable way, and the dialogue feels like it has been put through Google Translate one too many times. The effect makes the characters feel almost inhuman, despite being portrayed by (talented) actors. Their reactions often make little sense, especially when it comes to the barbaric duels at the center of the film. Stearns very intentionally dehumanizes his characters, making their identities difficult to grasp. It is often difficult to relate to anyone in this film, but the echoes of our reality give the audience enough to feel something at least.
The awkward nature of the film is used to satirize aspects of our own increasingly atomized populace. The fact that no one seems to oppose the practice of gladiatorial fights to the death is disturbing and makes the viewer wonder what societal practices we’ve come to accept as normal, despite their cruelty. Why do we enjoy watching violence on-screen? By furthering the otherization of characters in the film, that question becomes more distinct. With Dual, Stearns creates a world where our own relationship to identity is altered, thereby drawing attention to the way we can dehumanize people in our reality.
Two of a Kind
At the core of the film’s exploration of identity is the relationship between Sarah and her clone. Like in Richard Ayoade’s The Double, Sarah’s clone is more gregarious than the original, leading to the clone taking over Sarah’s life, despite the fact that she hasn’t passed away yet. Sarah is now faced with the literal personification of her flaws by being presented with a version of herself without them, a new and improved Sarah. At first, the Sarah clone tries to emulate the original to an absurd degree, spending weeks observing how Sarah behaves and constantly asking questions about her preferences. Once the clone strikes out on its own, however, it begins to develop its own desires and tastes. The slightly different version of herself leads to Sarah questioning her identity, much like how Riley Stearns’ uncanny characters make the audience wonder about themselves in comparison.
The movie is like a funhouse mirror of sorts, both for Sarah and the viewer, where a slightly distorted version of yourself is reflected back at you. What makes up someone’s identity is called into question, both in how you perceive yourself and how others see you. This unique experience alone makes the film worth watching.
Dual is a hilarious film with an incredible, if untraditional, lead performance from Karen Gillan, but what really sets it apart is how it interrogates notions of identity. While the film has been receiving mixed reviews, there are few other films that explore ideas surrounding what constitutes one’s self with such complexity and depth. If you are willing and able to accept the strange world Riley Stearns has created, then you will be rewarded with an insightful and hilarious movie that successfully grapples with big questions about what makes a person who they are.
