‘Twinless’ Is the Dark Comedy You Don’t See Coming

Producer James Sweeney’s Twinless is such a great black comedy-drama, and I hate that small parts of the film were getting leaked out of the film festival circuit last year. I will admit that I wasn’t trying to go out of my way to see this one, but with executive producer and lead actor Dylan O’Brien appearing in Sam Raimi, Damian Shannon, and Mark Swift’s Send Help, I decided to give it a shot. It’s not exactly what I expected going in, but I mean that as a good thing. Doing the introductory title sequence twenty minutes in is surprising because I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, but at that point, Sweeney, O’Brien, and director of photography Greg Cotten lead the way during one-take sequences and other smart camera techniques. Frankly, Twinless is nothing without the stylistic filmmaking and the rhetorical style it develops along the way.

I especially love the shifts in narration and perspective, beginning with grieving twin Roman (O’Brien), then Japanese-American gay man Dennis Benver (Sweeney) seeing Roman’s then-alive gay twin brother Rocky (also O’Brien) romantically, and back to the present, where Benver has invaded the spaces of Roman’s life. The Halloween costume party scene towards the end of the second act is also a neat means of switching narrations and who gets to deliver dialogue, from Benver attempting to hit it off with Sammy (François Arnaud), another gay man at the party, to Roman confiding in Benver’s receptionist colleague, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), about Sims and his twin brother from different areas of a house. Again, Cotten has ways with the camera, and I can almost see how the scenes are put together.

Character Developments and Performances

Sweeney’s performance takes a while to settle in, but by the time we get to learn more about Dennis Benver, he’s just wired weirdly, which might be why Roman befriends him almost instantly—and why Rocky is the first to make a move. In fact, I feel as if Benver acts as that one archetype in comedy-dramas who digs deeper and deeper into a lie and forgets who they are at their core, and even getting back to the truth makes their whole reality implode. Think of Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Zack Siler or Heath Ledger’s Patrick Verona, but even more unethical. The thing with Benver is that his lie is very specific, and every single action and decision that he makes is harmful to those around him. In my honest opinion, he’s just psychologically unwell, and by the final act, the conflict resolution is utterly darkly hilarious.

O’Brien does a brilliant job at portraying both the flamboyant pre-deceased twin and the depressed, not-too-reserved, nearly-quick-to-anger, seemingly heterosexual twin. The actor is out of his element in this film, and suffice it to say, I am satisfied with his part. Sweeney’s decision not to give Rocky his side of the story is wise, but it would be insightful to add wider context to Benver’s and Roman’s relationship with him. In terms of the names, I would never think “Roman” and “Rocky” would fit this guy’s face, but even coming up with them in the first place is interesting. Perhaps Roman is meant to depict the grieving brother as the soldier type in the twin duo, whereas Rocky is probably named after Rocky Road—not for my palette, specifically, but definitely a flavor that’s an acquired taste for a portion size of the world’s population.

Finally, there is Franciosi as Marcie, initially introduced as the dumb, gullible archetype in comedy-dramas. However, the character turns out to be wiser than she is portrayed at work. In parallel with Benver, Marcie is invited into the two protagonists’ spaces and feels welcome there, not as a third wheel but as a helpful spare tire within the dynamic between Benver and Roman. As beautiful as she is, Franciosi puts on an integral performance as a careful, understanding partner, sort of like the conscience that the men don’t have. For these reasons, I can appreciate the actor more, and she’s surely gotten a fan out of me.

Final Thoughts on Twinless

Overall, Twinless is a great film, but I can see where Sweeney’s filmmaking might be monotonous for some viewers. That makes the pacing off-putting at times. Then again, that’s made up for in the minutiae, such as references to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen or The Parent Trap. It makes sense, then, that the film is categorized as a dark comedy-drama rather than a romantic comedy-drama. The archetypes and tropes seen in, say, She’s All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, and John Hughes films are all subverted here. It isn’t love that two individual men seek, but closure and how each aims to obtain it.

Rhetorically speaking, it’s all present—the character, the emotion (such as when O’Brien masterfully sobs into Sweeney’s arms at one point), the logic of Sweeney’s screenwriting, the timing, the in media res organization of the scenes, the word choice, and the delivery—, and the mise-en-scène is some of the best that I have seen in a film in a good while.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars