A twin-less Dylan Sprouse and a band of cronies blindly following Patrick Warburton to a sprawling Mexican estate might sound like a fever dream. And at times, it feels like it.  Writers Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts have crafted a mind-boggling road trip flick with The Duel: a movie in which friendships are tested, odd lessons are learned, and a sobering conclusion left me asking, “Did I like this movie?” The answer is complicated.

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The first 20 minutes of The Duel are reminiscent of an early 2000s Ashton Kutcher buddy comedy featuring bros, beers, and an unearthed secret affair. Colin (Dylan Sprouse) has committed the cardinal friendship sin against Woody (Callan McAuliffe) by sleeping with his girlfriend, Abbie (Rachel Matthews.) But the backstabbing doesn’t end there. Colin insists he is in love with Abbie and is willing to pay the ultimate price for her heart. Because all road trip movies need laughs, Woody and Colin are joined by Kevin (Hart Denton) and Sam (Denny Love) as two funny sidekicks to toss in the occasional tension-breaker.

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Things get serious when the guys run into Christof (played by an effortlessly cool Patrick Warburton) who knows all about the art of the duel. Not only does he approve of it, but he also encourages a fight to the death by wowing the young friends with a startling collection of deadly weapons. From there, toxic masculinity smashes head first into outright stupidity. Instead of talking things out or even going their separate ways, Colin and Woody accept their fates. At least one of them, they inexplicably believe, will need to die due to their shared love for Abbie.

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To its credit, the film is fascinatingly self-aware; acknowledging that men will literally risk certain death before going to therapy. Love and Denton provide some few-and-far-between chuckles to break up the bizarre goings-on, but not quite enough to soften such a hard tonal pivot. Following a more cookie cutter plotline would have been a more palatable route for the viewer, so I do applaud Matthews and Roberts for sticking to their guns (pun intended) and leaning into their desired directive.

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The Duel could be construed as having two very different messages: the first being that men are insanely dumb; the second, that women just aren’t worth it. Either way it paints a grim picture of both sexes and makes pretty much everyone involved look like dopes. Personally, it’s one of the most on-the-nose examples of toxic masculinity I’ve ever seen displayed in a film. As for calling the movie “good” or “bad” – I’m just not able to pull the trigger either way.