Science Fiction doesn't get out much of the thriller/action archetype it usually finds itself in, so when a film like "Equals" comes a long, I got excited. What drew me into it from first glance was the aesthetic world director Drake Doremus had created a long with his top creatives. But what was ultimately holding me back from really loving the film was the ideas the film tried to present as its emotional core which didn't work. It's hard to convince me that two white people in a society where emotions are a "disease" can come off as a tale of "forbidden love." While the theme of a film shouldn't dictate the quality of the film, this film's entire push is to this very theme, and is what holds it back.
In a futuristic utopian society, human emotions have been eradicated and everyone lives in peace, but when a new disease surfaces, everything changes for illustrator Silas (Nicholas Hoult (of "Mad Max: Fury Road" fame). He becomes an outcast and once infected, he is drawn to his writer co-worker Nia (Kristen Stewart (the almighty master of the quiver), who is also infected but hiding her condition. In order to survive, they have to escape together. At first they try and fight it, but love conquers all, and they disregard all logic and do the craziest things for love (like have a bunch of people "erased" so they can run away).
Before I go to assaulting this film negatively, let me first praise the film for the aesthetics. Cinematographer John Guleserian and composers Sasche Ring and Dustin O'Halloran did an incredible job of setting the atmosphere and the mood the film was collectively trying to pull off. It molds very soft, desaturated, muted colors with a somber, electronic yet organic score that assaulted my senses. When I lost interest in the plot, the look and sounds of the film kept me in. It's incredibly beautiful to look at, and anyone who admires beautiful cinematography should watch this film. The production design, created by Katie Byron and Tino Schaedler, should also be acknowledged. Very few sci-fi films give us a urban landscape like in this film where it was able to be photographed with wide angles and never try to have the camera hide things. It takes a lot of talent to get a person to believe in a world, especially one that doesn't rely heavily on cgi or green screens, and this film manages to pull it off with grace and more importantly, subtlety.
The script, written by Nathan Parker, doesn't really deliver on the other end. Granted, the film isn't horrible by any means. Hoult and Stewart give pretty decent performances and the chemistry kinda works, but what really dulls its flame is the lack of substance to their forbidden love. You see, in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?," the idea that a white women dating a black man in the 1950s was taboo as hell. It was a culturally significant film for its time and for now, when interracial dating or marriages is frowned upon. Or, even in another Tribeca film "Madly," the segment "Clean Shaven" was taboo because the main character shaves her pubes in a society where that's a huge no-no. This film offers none of that and tries solely on convincing me their love is taboo because its a disease to feel emotions. It just doesn't work. I wish it did, because everything on the technical side of this film was high caliber.
"Equals" is a fair and unique attempt at a sci-fi film. It's certainly not a bad movie, but it could have been better. I would recommend seeing it in a theater because of how beautiful the image is, and I feel like a TV screen won't do it justice. Plus, the score completely engulfs you when listening to it with the theater's surround sound. The price of admission is worth that alone. But after that, I can't find a reason to revisit this film. Tread lightly; you might be disappointed.
