In the romantic science fiction drama Equals, Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult play star-crossed lovers being watched closely by a Big Brother in a future where emotions are disabled to achieve a peaceful society.
Produced by Ridley Scott’s production house, Scott Free and directed by Drake Doremus, Equal is an emotionally and visually arresting film from a screenplay by Nathan Parker based on a story idea from Doremus.
Equals is a nuanced, slow-burning love story, the film is set in a futuristic utopia where emotions have been genetically suppressed in an effort to protect society from the war and strife that has destroyed previous generations. On occasion, the suppression fails and emotions emerge in individuals – the Collective dubs this illness Switched On Syndrome, or SOS. As society is increasingly threatened by this health crisis, all SOS sufferers are heavily medicated or sent to the Den, a corrective facility from which no one returns.
Stewart and Hoult are Nia and Silas who encounter each other as colleagues at the science journal, Atmos. As Silas begins to experience the onset of SOS and his own awakening emotions, he finds himself inextricably drawn to Nia, who is hiding her own SOS. The longer they attempt to suppress their palpable connection, the more the tension fans the flames of their attraction. But with this newfound pleasure of intimacy, comes the threat of discovery and consignment to the Den. With the support of a group of like-minded SOS patients, they realize escape is their only option.
While Doremus and Parker worked on the story and script night and day, producer Micahel A. Pruss and Scott Free strove to assemble the players necessary to push it into production. With the blessing of Scott Free production chief Michael Schaefer, the project attracted a group of heavyweight backers and the project’s journey to principal photography gathered momentum. Putting the project in front of Ridley Scott played a pivotal role in getting Equals made.
Pruss says, “Having Ridley Scott as a producer on the film and as someone who is going to present the film, was not just crucial, but very inspiring for us all. Obviously Ridley is someone who knows a thing or two about science fiction and I think you can really feel his imprint on the film.”
Equal also completes Drake Doremus’ trilogy of films about love, also comprised of the Sundance winning Like Crazy (2011) and Breathe In (2013). Equals began its journey to the screen with a question that Doremus posed to producer, Michael Pruss, “What will love look like in the future… do you think we could potentially evolve away from the thing that makes us most human?”
Doremus and Parker instantly clicked and began brainstorming the question and the myriad of ideas it conjured, before landing on the idea of a society where humans are genetically modified to be absent of feeling for the betterment of society. In developing the story, Parker strove to examine not just the positive aspects of love, but also the pain and agony that accompanies caring deeply for another person. “We wanted these two characters, once they discover love, for it to feel like it was a curse,” Parker says. “They don’t want it, they want to run away from it, but are drawn back together because they can’t resist it.”
Equal opens May 11 in theatres from Pioneer Films. Check out the film’s trailer here: https://youtu.be/cDuPxOZUTbg
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Interview with ‘The Surprise’s’ Mike Van Diem
Mike Van Diem returns with The Surprise. Here is the excerpt from an interview with the director.
Winning an Academy Award for your debut film and taking so long to make a next one. Fear of failure?
No, not as far as I know. I got many offers from Hollywood. The first few years after winning the Academy Award I was asked to come to Los Angeles many times. Looking back on it, it’s not that surprising. You win an Academy Award because you’ve made a special, original and authentic film and Hollywood isn’t that interested in those films. It’s like receiving a Michelin Star and being asked to grill burgers.
After Character you didn’t expect you to write and direct a romantic comedy, right?
Perhaps not in that order, but The Surprise and Character have more in common than you might think. Not only thematically, but also when you look at the design: again quite grand, real cinema, while the story is again timeless and universal
Casting actor Jeroen van Koningsbrugge as the main character, who is ultimately funny but also dead serious, is quite remarkable. Why him?
While writing the script some aspects of Jeroen’s role reminded me of Peter Sellers in Being There and Jim Carrey in The Truman Show. Not only the eccentricity of the character, but also the tragic loneliness combined with a very friendly, almost childlike openness
How did you cast Georgina Verbaan?
That wasn’t so hard. There are very few good female comedians in the Netherlands and even less that could play a female lead. For the role of Anne we only invited a handful of actresses.
And Jan Decleir?
Jan wasn’t supposed to be in The Surprise. Jeroen plays a multimillionaire with an enormous estate and initially I had written the part of a butler in the story, the only person Jacob could talk to. I started casting but couldn’t find an actor with the charisma to make the role of the butler work. Jan has the charisma, but isn’t the butler type of guy. So I rewrote the part of the butler and made him a gardener, which suited Jan better. Jan and Jeroen immediately connected during the first read of the script and their chemistry is visible on screen. Jan also connected so well with Georgina. Jan really enjoyed making this film and we surely enjoyed working with him.