Without giving too much away, Twinless is a dark comedy that will leave you gasping, both for air from laughing too hard, and from the shock/horror of the magnificently jaw-dropping twists. Writer, director and co-star James Sweeney has crafted a yarn so astonishing, it is sure to give M. Night Shyamalan a run for his money.
Roman (played by Dylan O’Brien showing amazing range), is a twinless twin. We first meet him at his brother Rocky’s funeral, where he has to contend with not only his own grief, but the very niche feeling of being told you can’t be looked at because “you have his face”.
Struggling to cope, he joins a support group for other grieving twinless twins. While there, he meets and forms an unlikely friendship with Dennis (stunningly portrayed by Sweeney). Roman (heterosexual, masculine and good-looking if somewhat prone to fits of rage) ends up leaning on socially awkward Dennis in the most unexpected of ways – grocery shopping together, sharing sandwiches and even becoming each other’s wingmen – until inevitably the horrifying truth is revealed.
Twinless boasts a whopping 8 award wins and 3 nominations, with two wins and one nomination from the the Sundance Film Festival. The film has put James Sweeney on the radar as an up-and-coming director. An exciting plotline, dark humour, graphic gay sex and surprisingly sensitive dialogue, the movie kept me on my toes from start to finish.
But I highly recommend bringing backup when you watch this. You’re definitely going to want to debrief with someone after.
Twinless (MA15+) opens on 23rd October.