SPOILERS BELOW!

I find it kind of ironic that the conflict of this film revolves around a battle involving the actress who plays Nebula. There’s probably something meta you could say that applies to her Marvel character in that franchise. Anyway, this story takes place in a world where clones are a thing. But they are usually only for people who are about to die and want to ease the pain of their loved ones. Our main character – Sara – gets one after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Ten months later and it turns out she is in full remission. That means according to the law, a duel must take place in a year to determine which one gets to live. Having two of them walking around would just be insane!

Before we get into the meat of things, I gotta say that I do enjoy the humor of this movie. You can call it deadpan. But I think there is a fair mix of ironic humor thrown in as well. And then you get something like a female doctor somehow mansplaining what a funeral is to Sara when she is first diagnosed with her terminal illness. I think the humor of this film is supposed to help us process the vaguely bizarre ideas and concepts that this movie touches on. Helps us find a way to relate to what is going on and make it easier for us to understand.

Something that I found unique about this movie is that it has a theme but it ends up having two different perspectives on it. When we meet Sara, she does seem like a person who might not be fully content or happy with herself. More or less going through the motions or just partially being in touch with her feelings. So when she finds out that she has to fight to death and essentially prove she has a right to exist, her journey can be applied to how we might feel about our own lives. We have no shortage of documentaries or books or whatever it is you consume for entertainment that shed a light on how machine-like the average person goes about their day. Maybe it’s because they have grown comfortable and feel no need to do something new. Maybe they are depressed. But the only way to break out of that is to be confronted with something that can fundamentally change how you view yourself and the world around you. And that’s what happens with Sara. We see her pushed to the point where she is exposed to experiences and people that reshape her mind. Her journey is ultimately about how even though our lives might not seem like it, we have to realize they are worth fighting for.

But then we have the journey of Sara’s double, which is how she is referred to throughout most of the film. We don’t get to see a lot of her own story in this film once the preparations for the upcoming duel get underway. Once she does come back in, however, we do see a different side of things. She confesses to the original Sara about how the problems she might have experienced with her boyfriend and mom are starting to take a toll on her. She even takes them to a support group for people – originals and doubles – that have survived their duels and how that has affected them. Some of this could at first be interpreted as manipulation to try and mentally attack her original. But that doesn’t dismiss the fact that the others from this support group do find themselves not living their lives the way they thought they would. Haunted by the actions they made and even dealing with the consequences of how their originals lived their lives.

It’s not until we get to the final stretch of the film that the idea is fully realized. Sara’s double is ultimately the one left alive. But when we see her some time after the original’s death, it turns out that she wasn’t exactly lying. She does seem to be negatively affected by things that might have pushed the original Sara to be potentially depressed and introverted. The culmination of various factors begins to stress her mind and take their toll. Even to the point where she just stops in the middle of traffic and have a breakdown. It’s Sara’s double story that we explore the idea of what is the point of living if your life seems to be nothing about stress and negativity. If all you are getting our of it is sadness with no fulfillment or joy, then why bother? We have two versions of the same character that both approach the topic of how precious life can be, but they end up coming to two different conclusions. And that is the meta duality of this film. It’s up to you to decide which one is the message you want to take away with.