415. Two/One; movie review

 

TWO/ONE

Cert TBA

100 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

I can only say as I see but Two/One is another of the 2020 films which left me bamboozled.

The premise is interesting - two people on opposite sides of the world who have life planks in common.

However, while, I could accept that ski jumper Kaden (Boyd Holbrook) and business executive Khai (Song Yang) may be equally lonely, scared and brave, I couldn't see any other connection.

And these three traits surely apply to millions if not billions of people.

Kaden is facing the end of his high-profile career in a dangerous sport and continues to push himself to the limits despite warnings from his own body.

Therefore, he finds a spark in another way - through a lost love (Dominique McElligott) who is married.

He replaces physical with emotional danger even inviting her to a festive meal with his family - just as his parents are on the cusp of splitting up.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Khai becomes obsessed with a woman (Zhu Zhu) he has seen online and starts working in his office.

Suddenly, they embark upon a heady love affair which moves much faster than either expect.

And that's it.

Kaden is in Canada and Khai is in China. One is awake when the other sleeps but the film creates the expectation that they will somehow meet.

Sure One/two looks good - there are plenty of pretty people on view and some great sights of Whistler and Shanghai.

But I am afraid the raison d'etre of Juan Cabral's film was lost on me.

Reasons to watch: Easygoing parallel dramas

Reasons to avoid: Not enough happens

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know? The International Ski Federation which governs snowboard, freestyle, alpine, jumping, Nordic combined, and cross-country, rate ski jumping as the second-safest of all the snow-sport disciplines ... only cross-country is safer. 

The final word. Juan Cabral: "“I really think that humanity is like this block of ice that’s melted, and we’re really trying to connect and make it work. And I find that beautiful.” Cine Gupshup

Share this post