Dual

Dual, 2022, 3 ¼ stars

Clone wars

Exclusive to MeierMovies, March 25, 2022

With Doctor Who, two Jumanji films, many Marvel movies and now Dual, Scotland’s Karen Gillan has established herself as a top sci-fi star. And in her newest film, written and directed by Riley Stearns (The Art of Self-Defense), you get two Gillans for the price of one.

A social satire premised on the concept of cloning or “replacing” yourself prior to your anticipated death, Dual allows Gillan to shine as technological twins struggling to co-exist in a world not so different from ours. Adding strong support are Aaron Trent as a combat trainer with a secret desire to learn hip-hop dancing and Sanna-June Hyde as a doctor with the bluntest bedside manner this side of Dr. Kevorkian.

The film takes an unnecessarily keen interest in violence briefly in the second half while also momentarily running low on ideas, but its wonderfully dark humor, nice twist and exploration of the adage “be careful what you wish for” bring Dual in for a smooth landing. It might be only half as metaphysical as Marjorie Prime, which presumably inspired it, but Dual is twice as satisfying as Attack of the Clones.

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This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, go here. For more information on this movie, visit IMDB.