EQUALS
by Karen Pecota

In the futuristic society known as "The Collective" we meet Nia (Kristen Stewart) and Silas (Nicholas Hoult) who work together in a high tech office. The Utopian world in which they live is made available because all human emotions have been genetically altered, controlled or eliminated. Or, so the leaders of the community believe. Nia and Silas seem to have slipped through the cracks.

Silas is fascinated with Nia's work. She performs with excellence and is more knowledgeable than he, regarding the work their department delivers. Nia is fascinated with his attention toward her work. Though they are equal beings their individual talent attracts one another. In a society where romantic relationships are forbidden the two find that their work is the catalyst that brings them together. A secret attraction begins that leads into a forbidden passionate romance. Suspicion of the romance among their supervisors builds. Nia and Silas are aware and fearful. Knowing their lives could end prematurely if found out, they face a life altering dilemma. Do they end their relationship and go back to business as usual? Or, is their love and devotion to each other strong enough to escape to another world they no not how to survive?

Unlike his recent action-packed style of filming, Drake Doremus chooses to focus on a less flashy genre of storytelling. The emphasis on themes and characters that work to make the audience think about the value of love, friendship, devotion, trust, authority, organizations, rules, rebellion, the law, obedience, and life.

One of the producers feels the Doremus' narrative Equals, "takes a very classic Shakespearean love story and sets it in a stripped down minimalist environment that allows the characters to be front and center." They continue, "Though the ATMOS society has positive goals, it places each person in a position of absolute solitude." Equals brings to the forefront questions we can ask of our lives today. How important is it for humans to live in solitude vs. making life with other people?

Stewart notes, "Drake's type of filmmaking is so rare; I've never really experienced anything like it before." She continues, "With Equals, we didn't make a product, it wasn't about 'acting.' I genuinely feel like I went on a prolonged field trip. In a way, it's like Drake, Nick [Hoult] and I made a little student film on a huge scale about beautiful and important things."

Doremus says about his sci-fi romance feature film, "Equals is a metaphor for the way relationships change and grow and become something else." He continues, "For the price is about trying to ride the wave of a relationship. By the end of that journey, it's important to remember why you got into that relationship in the first place and what love actually means." He delivers a love story in a fresh way where the survival of the fittest finds the truth about love.