The Venice Film Festival lineup was announced earlier today, and among the additions is the world premiere of Like Crazy writer/director Drake Doremus’ first foray into the sci-fi genre, Equals. The film stars Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult and takes place in a world without greed, poverty, violence, or emotion. A new disease called Switched-On-Syndrome threatens to activate these dormant emotions, instilling love, depression, sensitivity, and fear into those affected, who are then swiftly sent away and never seen again. Stewart and Hoult’s characters are caught in the middle of the dilemma, and the two strike up a forbidden relationship.

In anticipation of the Venice premiere, a couple of new images from the film have landed online. This is certainly a striking visual departure for Doremus, who followed Like Crazy up with the underrated family drama Breathe In. The filmmaker's process includes largely improvising almost all of the dialogue of his films, so I’m really curious to see how Stewart and Hoult fare in such a different working environment. They’re both quite talented, and Doremus has filled out the ensemble with Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver, so my hopes are high for this one.

Take a look at the images below via VFF. Equals does not yet have a release date, but the Venice Film Festival runs from September 2 – 12th.

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Image via TIFF

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Image via TIFF
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Image via Venice Film Festival
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Image via Venice Film Festival
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Image via Venice Film Festival