Let me introduce you to a Brand New-U, an organisation that identifies Identicals. People who walk like you, talk like you, but who have better, more interesting lives. Want a life upgrade? No problem, Brand New-U will eliminate the better life donor and give you that life. Think you’ve got it all? Think again. Brand New-U might need you for one of their scenarios which they will make happen for paying customers.
Slater (Lachlan Nieboer) had it all. An interesting job, trendy apartment and a beautiful girlfriend Nadia (Nora-Jane Noone). One evening, Nadia is kidnapped in a terrifying sequence of events and Slater is immediately offered a chance at a better life. It’s either that or deal with the corpse that has been left in Nadia’s place and blamed on him.
He finds himself at Brand New-U where he is profiled and profiled again until he meets his true personal profile. He is given a new life. A nameless, faceless drone in a futuristic metropolis. The only rule is that he cannot take anything from his old life. Not one thing.
As Slater moves through a series of identical lives he becomes obsessed with finding Nadia but soon realises that he must first find himself. His predicament has a Kafkaesque feel to it as he hurtles towards the terrifying and ultimately inevitable conclusion of the film. There is quite a twist in the final scene but once it is over the viewer realises that there could never have been another outcome.
Written and directed by Simon Pummell (Bodysong, Shock Head Soul) Identicals is a tense futuristic sci-fi drama set in the technological utopias of the near future. It is a beautiful film set entirely in buildings of chrome and glass, often at night, with lots of play on light and darkness. Against this backdrop, one thing is constant: Slater and his struggle to maintain his humanity and sense of self.
Lachlan Nieboer (Into the White) is fantastic as Slater, an increasingly horrified and frustrated lone figure in a world that is completely beyond his control. I could not help but notice his striking similarity to Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles and like Jensen, he plays a natural and impressive anti-hero.
Identicals is available on Digital/VoD 15 August & DVD 22 August.
To celebrate the release of Identicals on Digital, VoD and DVD, I’m giving away two copies of the film on DVD.
Simply enter using the Gleam widget below and look out for the YouTube trailer too!
Entry is open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
The Identicals (2015) DVD Giveaway
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