10 Awesome 2022 Movies That Didn't Deserve To Flop

8. Dual

three hundred years of longing
RLJE Films

Having received plentiful buzz after screening at Sundance in January, hope was high that Dual would become one of the standout films of the year. While reviews were largely positive for the Riley Stearns-helmed movie - with Stearns also penning the picture - Dual had a disastrous return at the box office.

Put together for $4.5 million, Dual unfortunately amassed only $425, 000 when it came to its box office haul.

Plot-wise, the film stars Guardians of the Galaxy's Karen Gillan and Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul as a struggling couple. For Gillan's Sarah, she's diagnosed with a terminal illness and promised certain death. Deciding to secretly undergo a cloning process so that her family won't realise she's actually died when the time comes, things go array when Sarah miraculously recovers from her death sentence. Realising that her loved ones actually prefer "Sarah's Double" - as the clone is referred to - the original Sarah has to embark on a dual to the death with her doppelganger.

Often played firmly with the film's tongue in its cheek, Dual is an absolute hidden gem of 2022. The problem is, it shouldn't have the hidden gem tag, for the movie deserved such a wider audience and a greater box office haul that it ultimately received.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.