The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Venice Film Festival 2015

Equals

Venice Film Festival 2015: Equals | Review
5 September 2015
Filippo L'Astorina
Avatar
Filippo L'Astorina
5 September 2015

Special event

Venice Film Festival 2015

2nd to 12th September 2015

Equals can be summed up as a Romeo and Juliet-like love story set in a dystopian – or actually utopian, as director Drake Doremus prefers to say – futuristic world.

There’s very little originality in terms of plot and sci-fi elements; everything seen onscreen derives from classic movies such as Fahrenheit 451, Gattaca and Equilibrium.

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the Collective decide that human emotions should be inhibited through a vaccine administered shortly after birth. Nonetheless, there are a few who develop feelings approaching adulthood, and who are consequently considered to be a threat to society. These individuals cease to be equals and become SOS (Switched-on Syndrome) positive. This is what happens to Silas (Nicholas Hoult) and Nina (Kristen Stewart), who fall in love and plan to elope to the Peninsula, a neighbouring area where technology has been abandoned in favour of a primitive existence.

The popular faces of Hoult and Stewart do not do Equals any good. In fact, despite their passable acting, these two slap an inevitable “young adult story” label on the movie. It’s the providential screen time of Guy Pearce that confers it a higher status.

There are also some very good elements in this film worth mentioning: the embracing and enchanting score, written by Sascha Ring and Dustin O’Halloran, is the fil rouge that organically ties all of the scenes together. John Guleserian’s overexposed and borderline-blurry cinematography is its visual counterpart. Aesthetically, Equals is an impressive achievement; it’s just a shame that Doremus did not manage to bring any substance to the story.

★★★★★

Filippo L’Astorina, the Editor

Equals does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more of our reviews and interviews from the festival here.

For further information about Venice Film Festival 2015 visit here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Film festivals

The Toll

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

The Mauritanian

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

My Favourite War

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

In the Shadows

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Creation Stories

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Minari

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Berlinale 2021: Top picks to look out for in the festival’s 71st year

The editorial unit
Read More

Ten films to look out for at Glasgow Film Festival 2021

Andrew Murray
Read More

4 Feet High: An interview with Marisol Agostina Irigoyen, María Belén Poncio and Rosario Perazolo Masjoan

Sarah Bradbury
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Special event

Venice Film Festival 2015

2nd to 12th September 2015

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Smith & Burrows – Only Smith & Burrows Is Good Enough
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Creation Stories
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Gatsby at Cadogan Hall: An interview with Jodie Steele and Ross William Wild
    Theatre
  • Wrong Turn
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ginny & Georgia
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Toll
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • The Mauritanian
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • My Favourite War
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • In the Shadows
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Laura Mvula – Under a Pink Moon
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • My Favourite War
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Typical at Soho Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Detroit Stories – Alice Cooper
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Minari
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • West End Musical Drive In Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Venice Film Festival 2015: The Danish Girl press conference with Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hooper, Alicia Vikander and Amber Heard
Venice Film Festival 2015: El Clan | Review