By

Dual

Clone confrontation

In the not-too-distant future, people suffering from terminal diseases can have themselves cloned so as to “ease the loss to friends and family.” Should the subject miraculously recover and want his/her life back, the two identical beings must face off in a court-mandated duel to the death. (See what they did there?) Not the freshest concept, but frequently done well.

Sarah is one such cloned/recovered person, and for a while Karen Gillian’s deadpan delivery (in two roles) advances the material as “original Sarah” trains for her gladiatorial climax. Things started to get wonky for me with the appearance of Aaron Paul as her combat trainer (demonstrating once again that there is no life after Breaking Bad).

Riley Stearns (Faults, The Art of Self-Defense) has fun with the concept, and inevitably throws in a bit of social commentary centering on the meaning of life, the fear of death and of not being remembered. It’s not that it’s not funny, it’s that it never bothers to be. After a while, the satire began giving way to mere gloom, then a shrug of an ending, and I left thoughtful but unsatisfied. (94 min)