Slater (Lachlan Nieboer, Charlie Countryman) and his girlfriend Nadia (Nora-Jane Noone, Brooklyn) are enjoying a romantic evening when there’s a knock at the door. Masked men with guns come charge in looking for Nadia. They grab her but in the scuffle that ensues Nadia manages to kill one of her attackers. Slater chases after the getaway car on foot but can’t keep up. He returns to the house and unmasks the dead assailant, only to discover that the deceased looks just like Nadia. He then receives a call telling him that his Nadia is still alive, and that he needs to leave the house immediately unless he wants to be arrested for Nadia’s murder. The mystery caller tells him to come to the Brand New-U offices and everything will be explained.

The manager at Brand New-U explains that the company isn’t like other self-help services that try to improve people’s lives. Instead they find identicals with new, different and better lives for their clients to take over. The catch is that when the client signs the contract they agree that they cannot take any part of their old life with them. The company gives them the new life they need, not necessarily the life they want. His Nadia had already become someone else, and now it was time for him to do so.

So the company scans and profiles Slater, alters his face and sets him up with a new life. Slater signs the agreement, but he has no intention of forgetting Nadia—his love for her is too strong. And so he is constantly trying to locate her. What Slater doesn’t know is that company representative Joe (Nick Blood, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) has been assigned to watch over him to ensure he follows the rules. Will Slater and Nadia ever rediscover the love they once had?

Identicals is a visually imaginative and interesting film. In the first act we see Nadia and Slater in this old, rundown house with these seemingly floating candles all around them to set a romantic mood. In the second act, Slater finds himself at the Brand New-U headquarters with its spacious, stark white offices, and futuristic scanning equipment and city skyline view. When Slater is assigned his new job this stark, clinical look continues at the hydroelectric dam and spiral staircases. And in the final act, the whole color palette of the film changes to red as the danger and decisions Slater must face become more visceral and real.

When I saw the opportunity to review this title, I was really excited—from the trailer and description, it looked like a really interesting futuristic thriller. Plus, I was curious to see Nick Blood in a different role from SHIELD. However, while he gets third billing on the DVD cover and top billing in IMDB, the actor unfortunately only appears in a few short scenes of this film. While I found the initial premise of the film to be really fascinating, over the course of the movie I found that Slater’s overall mission and reason for his actions increasingly more confusing. And by the end I couldn’t really tell one character from another (i.e. which was an identical and which was the original) or what the film’s overall message was at the end. Perhaps there was some deeper philosophical meaning to the film that went over my head.

That said, I think the performances were good—Lachlan Nieboer pretty much carry’s the weight of the film. I found Joe to be an interesting character but we didn’t really get to learn much about him, and the same goes with Nadia—though we do get a bit more with her. And as I said earlier, the film is quite visually appealing, and tells a story in how the aesthetics change with each act.

The DVD picture looks a bit muddled, cloudy and staticy at times, but this may be the look the filmmakers were going for. One of the included bonus features shows how layers of effects were added to create the desired effects, and in that feature you can see there was a definite choice to wash out the picture to some degree. That said, I suspect the excellent visual effects of the film would look even better on the Digital HD release of the film. As for the audio, the filmmakers have successfully utilized the stereo and surround channels to add depth and ambiance to the film. I especially noticed this in the scene where Slater is getting his profile test/scan at Brand New-U and as the spinning discs are revolving around him, you can hear them whooshing past you in every direction. In addition to the aforementioned special effects bonus feature, the DVD disc also includes an interesting 15 minute interview with the writer/director of the film.

What’s Included:
Film: (1:40:19)

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras:

• Discussion with Writer/Director Simon Pummell (15:13)
  Dana Linssen sits down with the writer/director to ask him about the origin of the film, goes from documentary/art films to working in genre/sci-fi, the difference between an identical and a double, the similarity between scanning to make an indetical and cinema, the use of architecture and the spiral staircase, homages to Hitchcock, and the “all you need is a girl and a gun” saying.
• Visual Effects Breakdown (4:03)
  A look at the various layers of effects are added to compose the final scenes. Music plays over montages of the face scanning, Slater’s Brand New-U interview with Manager, Slater’s body scanning, Slater and Joe standing over the hydroelectric dam, Slater’s highrise binocular view, panning the stark white office to the skyline, and the final shootout.
• Previews (4:12)
  Trailers for “Hyena Road” and “East Side Sushi”.

Final Thoughts:

Identicals is very visually appealing and innovative film. It sets up a though-provoking premise, has some good performances and some nice action moments, but unfortunately never fully becomes the futuristic thriller I had hoped it would, and by the end I found myself quite confused as to what was going on, which character was which, and what the final message of the film was. The DVD audio presentation is excellent. The video presentation is decent, though I suspect the visuals would look even more stunning in HD. The disc also contains 2 entertaining bonus features, including a visual effects demonstration and a 15-minute interview with the writer/director. I would suggest those interested in the film rent it first before doing a blind buy.