It’s laborious to write down — and direct, produce, and star in — one thing with an important premise. I’d think about it’s even tougher to junk that premise after 20 pages in favor of committing to a distinct one altogether. However James Sweeney’s “Twinless” is a movie that hinges on the suppleness of the tales we inform about ourselves (amongst a number of different issues), and this assured, intelligent, and cuttingly darkish comedy nearly by no means misses an opportunity to indulge within the braveness of its convictions, particularly when these convictions really feel oh so improper.
“Twinless” introduces itself as a lightweight however mordant bromance concerning the friendship that develops between two boys who’ve each misplaced their similar brothers. On the one hand we’ve Roman (Dylan O’Brien, in a double efficiency that confirms the previous teen heartthrob as a serious expertise), whose twin Rocky was simply flattened to loss of life by a automotive in the midst of a Portland crosswalk. Rocky was a flamboyantly homosexual charmer who carried himself with breezy self-assurance — if Roman had been any straighter and fewer articulate he’d be a Barstool Sports activities podcast.
Then again there’s Dennis (Sweeney), a droll and calculating twink whose life was radically remodeled by a childhood encounter with the Olsen twins basic “It Takes Two.” He and Roman won’t be buddies in another circumstance, nevertheless it’s simple to understand why these grieving strangers are drawn to one another after they meet at a assist group for twinless twins: They every fill the position of the sibling they misplaced. Cue: Grocery procuring dates, late evening gab seshes, and even a street journey to a Kraken recreation in Seattle. It’s humorous, it’s cute, and it’s in all probability sufficient to have sustained a spiky 90-minute charmer that appealed to a broad cross-section of younger viewers.
It’s additionally not the film that Sweeney needed to make, and “Twinless” is all the higher for that. I don’t even wish to reveal what occurs after the late title card drop (at all times a very good omen), so let’s simply say that story makes a pointy and shrewdly executed swerve away from Apatow and in direction of Almodóvar or De Palma — much less florid and operatic than such lofty comparisons may counsel, however simply as desirous to relish within the psychosexual foibles of its characters (a course of that includes a minimum of one wig, a number of ominous zooms, and a liberal use of some very efficient and thematically justified split-screen).
The overwhelming majority of these foibles belong to Dennis. Sweeney may battle to promote the extra anguished moments of melodrama that befall his character in direction of the tip of the film (which makes it that a lot simpler to understand O’Brien’s talent as an actor), however there’s no denying he is aware of this materials inside and outside, and “Twinless” is barely in a position to maintain its high-wire act of a narrative as a result of Sweeney makes Dennis sympathetic and sociopathic in nearly completely equal measure. Even after dropping his twin brother, Dennis nonetheless seems like he’s two separate individuals break up in half. Greater than that, he embodies the fantasy of wishing that you simply had been two individuals break up in half, if solely so you could possibly finish your loneliness by discovering the opposite a part of your self.
Even earlier than the plot is wrinkled past the purpose of discomfort, there’s one thing just a little squirmy about Dennis’ romantic infatuation together with his new bestie, which is clear to everybody however Roman. In reality, it’s squirmy as a result of it’s apparent to everybody however Roman. “Twinless” will ultimately confront the latent homophobia that audiences have come to count on from films about queer-on-straight fixations (and it’ll accomplish that with a tenderness that epitomizes Sweeney’s recent method to previous tropes), however the friendship at its core is so delightfully skin-crawling as a result of Dennis fetishizes Roman for his resemblance to Rocky concurrently Roman appreciates Dennis for alleviating the ache of Rocky’s loss of life. It’s a recipe for catastrophe.
“Twinless” mines a gradual drumbeat of stable laughs from the mismatched power of its co-leads, and the Pinter-like precision of Sweeney’s dialogue is very well-suited to the scenes the place Dennis and Roman are speaking at one another on utterly completely different wavelengths. Dennis is sly and sarcastic, and Sweeney delivers each line with a withering knowingness that will really feel workshopped half to loss of life if it weren’t so humorous. In contrast, Roman is honest and guileless. His anger flares when he feels just like the butt of the joke, however a lot of the greatest ones go over his head (when Dennis asks if he’s from Moscow, Idaho, Roman blankly responds “ one other one?”).
Roman seems to be a bit extra sophisticated than his “aw shucks” demeanor may counsel at first (and O’Brien does a fabulous job of promoting the credibility of these hidden layers), however there’s a “Looney Tunes”-like factor to watching such a dedicated schemer attempt to manipulate somebody who’s simply making an attempt to get by means of every day in a single piece. Sweeney maintains the psycho-thriller shenanigans on the power of expressive 35mm cinematography and a satisfyingly recursive script that doubles again to take advantage of each element; the streets of Portland are saturated with loss, and the working gags that “Twinless” weaves by means of them are so good that it seems like a serious flex to maintain them within the margins. I’d watch a complete comedy concerning the woman in Dennis’ workplace whose complete deal is that she doesn’t discuss her private life at work.
For some time there, it looks like the ever-smiling receptionist at Dennis’ firm is perhaps one other a type of one-joke roles (particularly when you, like me, fail to clock that she’s performed by a note-perfect Aisling Franciosi, one million miles away from “The Nightingale”), however “Twinless” has a lot larger plans for Marcie. Misdiagnosed by Dennis as a blithering NPC, Marcie seems to be the emotional turnkey for your complete film — much more so than Roman and Rocky’s mother (Lauren Graham), who pops in simply lengthy sufficient to counsel that dropping a twin may sting with the identical depth as dropping a toddler.
The romance that develops between Marcie and Roman must be sufficient to remind these characters concerning the upside of codependency, and to point out them how precious it’s to have somebody to lean on — no matter baggage is perhaps carried between you. Dennis and Roman are each in want of a forgiveness that solely they will present to one another, and solely they will make one another really feel complete once more, nevertheless it’s unattainable to switch a brother, and perhaps even tougher to be reminded of that.
Tougher than “Twinless” is in the end keen to bear. For all of its cheeky flirtations with unhealthy style, this can be a very good film at coronary heart, and Sweeney lacks the killer intuition to comply with this story to a few of the darker locations it looks like it’s begging to go. That is perhaps for one of the best, because the movie’s most extreme moments pressure the emotional believability of its underlying state of affairs, nevertheless it stings to look at such a intelligent and shocking story of grief accept such a predictable consequence. Sweeney renders these characters too truthfully to resolve — or a minimum of start to deal with — their ache so tidily. It’s like Winston Churchill famously by no means mentioned: “If you happen to’re going to hell, preserve going.”
Grade: B+
“Twinless” premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Pageant. Republic Footage will launch it later this 12 months.
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