Twinless is a curiously bizarre yet lovable watch that follows the complicated relationship between Roman (Dylan O’Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) after they meet at a twin’s bereavement support group. Directed, acted, produced, and written by James Sweeny, the project is a uniquely original work that balances and blends a combination of contrasting themes into a rather emotionally charged film.
In all honesty, I’d suggest going into the film blind, as its unusual narrative choices will perhaps land better knowing little of what’s to come… however, I’ve got a job to do, so I’m going to have to break the key twist to you that’s established early on.
Despite attending a bereavement group for twins, Dennis’s character has not lost a twin and is, in fact, stalking the brother (Roman) of an ex situationship who ghosted him. Yes… it’s quite the story.
However, I promise it’s not necessarily as outright creepy and weird as it sounds; the film instead acknowledges this while simultaneously approaching its narrative with a great deal of empathy and curiosity. The story follows the bromance that forms between Roman and Dennis, as we understand the impact of past situations on the moments they share, and as the pair navigate a difficult time and attempt to cope with all the tremulation and cringe that comes with it.
A film that takes time to develop its characters, great care is made to establish a believable environment for a slightly absurd feeling plot. Deeply supported, of course, with some quality cast performances all round – with Dylan O’Brien showing there’s more to his acting than running away from cranks, monsters, and Decepticons – and Aisling Franciosi, who couldn’t possibly be more charming in her portrayal as Dennis’s bubbly co-worker.
Full of tense moments, complicated characters, talk about the video game ‘The Sims’, and a game of ‘Chubby Bunny’, the film is one of deep contrast. It attempts with great success to tackle serious issues such as grief, discrimination, addiction, and isolation, while packaging it together in a quite lovable and soft manner, which is aided delightfully by some often subtle yet crafty cinematography.
As a twin myself, I should say that I don’t necessarily feel that the film explores themes of ‘twinhood’ much. However, I think this is okay, and not necessarily the goal of the film. As mentioned before, the film studies grief – this is its focus – it just chooses to communicate this through the lens of a bereaved twin, rather than inherently exploring the ‘twin’ relationship in detail. Though that’s not to say that I don’t feel the film could have perhaps dipped into these themes more to enrich the story it is trying to tell, as when it does utilise this, it really strengthens the film’s emotional poignancy.
Overall, in a period of complaints over a lack of originality and quality in cinema, this project most certainly bucks the trend, feeling fresh and just genuinely great. Releasing this February in UK cinemas, Twineless is most definitely worth the watch.
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Hi, I’m Neil Singer, Culture Editor and second year student, studying media and journalism, and social policy. In my spare time I play for Strathclyde Lacrosse and watch a lot of films. If your reading this then that probably means you’ve looked at my article, so thankyou! You must be one very cool individual.