Taglines: Find your equal.
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). He becomes an outcast once infected and is drawn to his writer co-worker Nia (Kristen Stewart), who is also infected but hiding her condition. In order to survive, they have to escape together.
Equals is a 2015 American science fiction romantic drama film directed by Drake Doremus, produced by Michael Pruss, Chip Diggins, Ann Ruak, Michael Schaefer, Ridley Scott, and Jay Stern, and written by Nathan Parker from a story by Doremus. It stars Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart as two people diagnosed with a disease that restores their human compassion and emotions in a dystopian world where emotions do not exist. Additional roles are played by Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver.
The film had its world premiere in the international competition section at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. The film had its North American premiere in the Special Presentations programme at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released on May 26, 2016 through DirecTV Cinema prior to opening in a limited release on July 15 by A24.
Doremus, Stewart, Hoult, and producer Michael Pruss attended a press conference in Tokyo on August 2, 2014 to announce the start of the film. Principal photography began on August 4, 2014 in Japan and continued until August 28, after which production moved to Singapore for another three weeks. Filming wrapped in Singapore on September 26, 2014.
About the Story
In a futuristic dystopian utopia, citizens, known as “members” live under the Collective, the legislative body who monitor the people’s actions. Citizens are mentally stabilized and all emotions and most illnesses are eradicated, with emotion and sexual activity contrary to the society’s rules, and conception is through artificial insemination via a conception summons.
Silas, a citizen, works as an illustrator for Atmos. Returning home one night, he sees two citizens detained by officials and is reminded of a purported epidemic of Switched-On Syndrome (SOS), a multi-stage “disease” that restores human emotions. Sufferers who do not commit suicide progress to stage four and are detained in the dreaded Defective Emotional Neuropathy Facility (the DEN), the Collective’s institution, which no one ever leaves. The next day at work a suicidal employee jumps to his death and the emotionless workers coldly analyze the moment. Silas is the only group member to notice fellow worker Nia having an emotional reaction. Later in a team meeting, he again sees Nia expression betray emotion.
During the course of the next day, Silas becomes distracted during a conference at Atmos, falls asleep more often, and experiences a nightmare for the first time. He goes for a check up and is befriended by an official named Jonas with stage 2 SOS. Silas is diagnosed with Stage 1 SOS and is given a prescription. Nevertheless, Silas progressively worsens, as his drawings become emotional and his interest in Nia grows.
One day, he follows Nia into the bathroom and comforts her. She reveals that she has had SOS for over a year, hiding it to avoid discovery and ostracization. He kisses her, but hears Leonard, the company manager, in the bathroom and converses with him. Leonard spots Nia’s workstation powered on and reveals that he has been monitoring Silas. Silas decides to get a job separate from Nia in a gardening section.
Leonard introduces Silas’s replacement, Dominic, to Nia the next day. Nia, during a conversation with Dominic, suffers a slight anxiety attack during lunch break. At night while picking up their prescriptions Jonas invites Silas for a walk, and then discloses that he is part of a secret support group and offers help. He decides to go, where he meets fellow members Bess, Peter, Thomas, Gil, Max and Alice and learns that the DEN’s patients half of the time, mostly through encouragement, commit suicide. Nia then shows up at his apartment and they have sex, agreeing to spend more time there.
Thereafter, the Ashby ENI cure for SOS is announced and successfully created. Scared, the two decide to go to the Peninsula, a secluded, primitive section of land, to the bewildered support of the group, who warn them they can never return if successful. Jonas gives Silas instructions to ask for Oliver, a pilot, to fly him to the Peninsula. Silas and Nia make plans to go to Wellington, the closest location towards the border, on Saturday. However, Nia gets a conception summons and goes to the clinic, where she discovers that she is pregnant and so is taken to the DEN.
Equals
Directed by: Drake Doremus
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce, Bel Powley, Kate Lyn Sheil, Claudia Kim, Jacki Weaver, Aurora Perrineau
Screenplay by: Nathan Parker
Production Design by: Katie Byron, Tino Schaedler
Cinematography by: John Guleserian
Film Editing by: Jonathan Alberts
Costume Design by: Alana Morshead, Abby O’Sullivan
Music by: Dustin O’Halloran, Sascha Ring
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic content, sensuality, partial nudity and disturbing images.
Studio: A24 Films
Release Date: July 15, 2016
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