TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2016 // A REVIEW OF "EQUALS"

BY MATEO MORENO

In EQUALS, Director Drake Doremus presents a vision of the future that is bleak. Emotion is looked upon like a disease. A pill called “inhibitors” blocks any emotion that naturally takes places. If your emotions are switched on, they call it "Switch on Syndrome" (S.O.S. for short) and it is not a good thing if this happens. If it does and you're caught, you are sent to the Defective Emotional Neuropathy Center where you go through rehabilitation. If it doesn't stick, you're killed. So there's that.

We follow Silas (Nicholas Hoult) and Nia (Kristen Stewart). Silas has been diagnosed with "S.O.S." Silas connects with Nia as he hasn't with anyone before. He recognizes something in her. Stewart plays to her strengths here, with a muted performance that feels like emotions could be boiling over at any minute. The world they live in has cured everything from the common cold to cancer. But should it be curing emotions as well? And for what reason? Doremus and co-screenwriter Nathan Parker weave a very intriguing tale that doesn't always answer the bigger world building questions (on purpose) but does make a fascinating, and frustrating, dystopian tale work. Hoult and Stewart are strong leads here and you want them to make it through together. Experienced through a lot of close-ups and blue lenses, EQUALS may frustrate some. But it fascinated me much more than it drove me mad. And a little bit of both can be a very good thing.

WRITTEN BY Drake Doremus and Nathan Parker DIRECTED BY Drake Doremus STARRING Nicholas Hoult, Kristen Stewart, Vernetta Lopez, Bel Powley, David Selby.

MATEO'S VERDICT: SEE IT

FINAL THOUGHTS: A striking, if sometimes frustrating, vision of a bleak future and solid performances throughout.