Dylan O’Brien defends his dead twin: Twinless – a multi-award winning new movie
Loss & love - a gut-wrenching dark comedy.
Directed by James Sweeney, an upcoming American filmmaker and actor, Twinless is an assault on the senses.
In the film, Sweeney plays Dennis, next to Dylan O'Brien who takes on the role of Roman. Both are recovering from the loss of their twins.
The film, a Sundance Audience Award Winner, looks at what seemingly starts as an unlikely friendship between the two, found within a bereavement group.
It explores themes of loss, love, and grief. It encapsulates life and its lessons in many various ways - there was both laughter and moments of emotional and physical discomfort.
It also wrestles with loneliness, sexuality, and vulnerability. Topics that are hard. Intense. Heart-wrenching.
Sweeny himself says of the films multi-dimensional message, ‘I think: loneliness is a killer, identity isomorphous, and forgiveness is underrated. There’s a fourth theme I am omitting, but you’ll understand why later.’
Dylan O’Brien, in the context of his career, has defied his typical trope (Roman/Rocky). While for Sweeny, established in queer cinema, it seemed personal, adding to the intensity.
Each character somehow charms, whilst also keeping the audience guessing. Full of endearingly awkward moments, as the bromance grows between the twinless friends, you end up feeling bad for each one of them, in one way or another.
It also confused me at times, trying to keep track of the plot and the actors that were multi-rolling. The emotional spectrum was wide, and the audience wasn’t always in sync – some laughing at parts that I didn’t. As the drama continued, we clocked others’ different reactions through the corner of our eyes. Perhaps we all related in different ways.
The feelings of nostalgia, love and connection pulses throughout. Roman is “the good twin” to Rocky. Dennis is a top-tier psycho, probably comparable to Penn Badgley’s Joe in You. Marcie (Aisling Franciosi) was the glue that kept them together, intertwining herself in their lives.
The film takes you on a weird but wonderful ride, and whilst leaving, I was reflecting on just what it means to have loved and lost a piece of yourself, and what impact that has on each of our identities.
TWINLESS is in UK & Irish cinemas 6 February. For cinemas visit: https://bit.ly/m/twinlessfilm
Wow this sounds absoluetly incredible! The way you describe how it tackles grief through the lens of twinless people is so unique - I hadn't really thought about how losing a twin would be like losing a piece of your own identity. Makes total sense why Sweeny would focus on lonliness and identity being 'isomorphous' as themes. I actually had a friend who lost his brother young and he described it as feeling 'incomplete' for years after, so this hits pretty close to home for me.