Do you love your best friend enough to die for them? In ‘The Duel’ that question is examined—well, more so, that idea is used to catapult a very entertaining dark comedy about what to do when betrayed by someone you trust.
The film follows four best friends: Colin (Dylan Sprouse), Woody (Callan McAuliffe), Sam (Denny Love), and Kevin (Hart Denton), but after Colin starts an affair with Woody’s girlfriend Abbie (Rachel Matthews), the group is fractured. And it seems beyond repair.
“It’s a love story, but between friends,” Sprouse explains of the plot. And as it turns out, the friendships aren’t just onscreen, but also off. “I first worked with the writer-directors (Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts) on a movie called ‘Banana Split’, but Justin I had met in college.”
As for McAuliffe, he also came on board through a friendship with the writing/directing duo and was sent the script to give feedback. “‘After I read it, I couldn’t imagine not being a part of it,” he explains. “To make a film with friends, I was in from the get-go. I was also interested in the history. As the tagline says, modern problems sometimes require historic solutions.”
The historic solution is a full-on duel between Colin and Woody, with Sam and Kevin as their respective seconds. At the start of the movie we learn of Colin’s affair, but we also see Woody hurting his former friend in an equally irreparable way—by burning his dead father’s surf board, which he made just before he died. This action causes Colin not only to accept the duel, but to be equally as scarred by his former friend.
As the two actors in the roles say, ‘The Duel’ is a dark comedy, but it’s really about the love between two friends and what happens when both want to atone for their actions.
“Woody going as far as to participate… I think it proves just how much he loves him as a friend,” McAuliffe explains.
The build-up of the plot leads to the mano-a-mano at the end, but the ride along the way is filled with quite a lot of interesting characters.
There’s Christof (Patrick Waburton) the eccentric weapons shop dealer who has a strange affinity for the art of dueling. There’s Rudolpho (Ronald Guttman), a Mexican drug lord who holds Christof’s interest in the idea of the clash, but who also owns a huge mansion south of the border big enough for some historical escapades.
Then there’s Aphrodite, Rudolpho’s daughter (María Gabriela de Faría), who brings an equally scary and hilarious energy to the mix as the four friends navigate the predicament they’ve gotten themselves into.
The organic acting and nature coming from ‘The Duel’ definitely helps ground the plot. The idea of traveling to Mexico through desert canals and landing at the estate of a wealthy kingpin to perform an outdated (“but honorable”) battle isn’t exactly an everyday tale. But, the chemistry between the cast aids the realness of ‘The Duel’ and the stakes that are set. It helps with all of the laughs that the film provides as well.
“It really starts with the writing,” says Sprouse when asked about comedic timing and camaraderie between the cast. “It also helps that during COVID we were in the same Air BNB in Indiana. We were already friends, but we got to build that up together.”
One scene in particular that stands out to McAuliffe born from improv in the film comes from a conversation with Denton’s character right before the duel happens: “We’re eating ice cream and talking about Colin and his performance at dinner…it feels real because we are really friends. That was a normal conversation of [jokes] for us to have.”
Another favorite from McAuliffe was also the actual skirmish at the end. “It was one of the most immersive experiences in my career,” he explains.
“The duel was actually the last scene we shot,” adds Sprouse. “So the build-up, at least from us, is real.”
The ending is a fun one, or more so, one that will likely leave people wondering. Which, to its cast, is kind of the point.
“It’s an interesting time with the idea of toxic masculinity, and then also the idea of having friends going so far as to [possibly] die for one another,” finishes Sprouse. “What we took away from some of the screenings were that people were talking about what their interpretations are [of the film.] I think by that, we’ve done our job.”
‘The Duel’ is a dramedy, but it’s also quite unique. It shows a path that Hollywood has potential to have—one where friends can make a quirky movie about something real, have it actually be funny, and steer away from explosions and costumes to help keep audiences intrigued. And if it gets people thinking about their own lives and friendships as well…even better.
‘The Duel’ will be released as a one-night-only theatrical event in partnership with Iconic Events on July 31.
