In the distant future, humankind has completely eradicated the scourge of emotion. More importantly, they have eradicated the scourge of bad haircuts. Everyone in the future has slick, immaculately coiffed hairdos perfectly complemented by an ensemble of crisp stainless whites. The future looks so clean you could eat off of it, and yet even in this antiseptic utopia, trouble’s a-brewing. There’s a lethal virus going around, and while the trailer embedded above dare not speak its name, we don’t share the same reservations. The leads of Drake Doremus’ festival sensation Equals have a bad case of ‘the feels’.

That’s the unusual premise of Doremus’ new gene-spliced sci-fi/romance Equals, which wowed audiences at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals in September. Most of the praise went to the sensitive, committed performances of leading actor Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, a pair of performers who have chosen roles extremely well over the past few years. (Just earlier this week, Fury Road star Hoult boarded the english-language debut from upstart hotshot Xavier Dolan.)

Audiences shouldn’t expect another smolder-fest in the vein of Twilight from leading lady K-Stew, however; early reports on the film celebrated Stewart’s emotional range beyond the steadfast stoicism she’s evinced in many of her films. Returning to the romantic-drama genre he previously laid claim to with 2011’s indie breakout Like Crazy, Doremus expands his range a little as well, committing to the world-building of this highly stylized vision of a doom that passes itself off as world peace. Some detractors found Doremus’ approach mannered and lifeless, but even the film’s harshest critics had kind things to say about the chemistry between Hoult and Stewart. Boutique studio A24 will push the film into a public release, though they have yet to set a date. But when they do, the vast and dauntingly Twitter-active Kristen Stewart fandom will ensure everyone knows.

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