Twinless: Film Review
I was hyped for Twinless for months before I saw it at LFF, so my expectations were high, but it totally surpassed them – what an incredible film!
The black comedy-drama stars Dylan O’Brien as Roman, who is grieving the death of his identical twin Rocky. He attends a support group for twinless twins and befriends Dennis (James Sweeney). They become best friends – almost as if they’re filling the hole left by their twins – but their friendship becomes complicated when Roman starts dating Dennis’s work colleague Marcie (Aisling Francoisi).
It’s hard to review Twinless because I want to protect its secrets. The film is best enjoyed if you go in knowing as little as possible because everything that happens beyond that initial premise is a spoiler. The twists and turns and character revelations are truly wild and I want you to experience them like I did.
It blows my mind that Sweeney wrote, directed and starred in this fantastic film. He is onscreen a lot, so it’s a huge responsibility. His unpredictable performance is excellent but I’m most impressed by his writing, particularly the way he builds these characters and establishes their dynamics, the pacing of the story and how the dramatic reveals are delivered, and his sense of humour. This film is so much funnier than I expected and has one of the most comedic sex scenes in recent memory.
O’Brien has been choosing such an interesting variety of projects and roles over the past three years. All of them have been good but Twinless is on another level. I can’t say too much about his character but let’s just say he gets to showcase his range and prove how talented he really is. I also adored Francoisi – who caught my attention in the Speak No Evil remake – as the sunny Marcie, who is so sweet, kind and lovely.
O’Brien attached himself to Twinless five years ago and it took forever to get made because studios and financiers kept turning the project down. I imagine the pitch was quite a hard sell, but the script is so smart, funny and unpredictable that studios should have been clamouring for it. A great watch from start to finish.
Seen at the London Film Festival. In cinemas Friday 6th February