Venezia 72 Day Four: Equals Film Review.

One of today’s review is of the, quite simply weird, Equals. Equals is in competition here in Venice and will be up for the ‘Golden Lion’ award.

I will let you into a secret now… it will not win it.

I needed a night to think about this film to figure out how I will write this review. Maybe it was the Peroni but something doesn’t add up.

Let’s discuss…

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Equals is about a futuristic love story set in a world where emotions have been eradicated. It stars Skins actor Nicholas Hoult and Twilight’s Kristen Stewart - a match made in heaven right?

Wrong. I can completely see why this pair have been casted in this film. They both have no charisma and seem as wet as doormat on a rainy day. So, the roles seemed perfect for them in an emotion-eradicated world? Well you would have thought but their characters are the opposite. They both have SOS (Switched-On-Syndrome) which means they can feel different emotions, love, get depressed – basically live. The pair just don’t work together.

I love a sci-fi movie from time to time, but this just didn’t grabbed me. The synopsis is incorrect too. On the taglines it reads “they need to escape to survive” – there is very little running away; it barely gets that far. The film is literally, and I mean LITERALLY, Romeo & Juliet set in a distant future

The star-crossed lovers have feelings for one another when they are forbidden to. She is taken away because she is found to have the ‘disease’. He believes she is dead so gets the cure provided for his S.O.S and then she returns – sound familiar? It’s just all really unoriginal with uninteresting characters.

I really liked Drake Doremus’ (director) Like Crazy with Jennifer Lawrence and Felicity Jones but here it just feels lazy. There were a few laughs in the theatre and not for good reasons I believe. The shots used are very dramatic, widescreen and arty but it feels too force. It’s shot just like Twilight with the creepy long stares and biting of lips. It is like a corny, teenage drama.

The dystopian world used looks like swish offices you’ll find in Canary Wharf with flat-pack furniture you’d find in Ikea. I just don’t get it.

I wouldn’t waste your time or money with this production, it feels cheap and poorly executed. Just go and put on Leo’s Romeo & Juliet – that wont cost you £10 these days.

Movie Addicts Rating: 1 Star

Equals will be released worldwide in the coming months. Certificate TBC.