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Twinless is a Raw and Wicked Take on the Meaning of Fraternity

A fair bit of what Scarlett Johansson got wrong with Eleanor the Great, James Sweeney gets right with Twinless -specifically as far as having manipulative, dishonest protagonists who are still meant to be likable. Sweeney perhaps has more riding on it, given he plays this character as well as writing and directing the film, but for a filmmaker of his youth he demonstrates a really firm grasp on how to articulate someone’s humanity through inhumane choices. He also never loses sight of the consequences and harm done by this figure, or who the tragedy of the story ultimately belongs to. And he does so while making the situation wickedly funny too.
Twinless is a fairly warped comedy-drama -and only Sweeney’s second feature-film- about the lengths people will go to for a missing connection, centred on two men sorely in need of it from very different avenues. We’re introduced to Dylan O’Brien’s Roman -in deep and difficult mourning after the sudden death of his twin brother Rocky. Attending a support group for twinless twins, he meets Sweeney’s Dennis, who lost his brother Dean. The two strike up a quick friendship over their mutual loss, as well as their senses of humour, and soon become each other’s vital support structure. The only problem (revealed dramatically at a late opening credits sequence -something of a trend this year I’ve noticed) is that Dean never existed; and in fact Dennis is faking a dead brother to get closer to Roman after having fallen in love with Rocky through a one-night-stand. Dennis also feels responsible for Rocky’s death, having beckoned him out into the street where he was struck by a car.
And so naturally it is very creepy that Dennis is essentially trying to recreate what he thought he had with Rocky with a twin brother in mourning,. Added to this is the fact that he confessed to Rocky during their tryst a fetishistic fascination with twins making for motivations that are deeply unsettling.  But when Sweeney brings the film into Dennis’s perspective -where it stays for most of the run- we do see the relationship evolve away from anything Dennis might have hoped for. Unlike his brother, Roman is straight, and eventually enters into a relationship with Dennis’s co-worker Marcie (Aisling Franciosi) -whose connection to Dennis inevitably threatens his lie of a deceased twin brother. As intense as this may be and as dark as Dennis’s deception is, the movie illustrates quite well the virtues of the relationship that forms for both. For Dennis, Roman is the platonic substitute for that connection with Rocky; for Roman, Dennis is the supportive substitute for his brother -with whom he regretted losing touch with before his death. Were it not for that critical deception, it might be a wholesome bromance.
Still, Dennis might come off as innately horrible for this, but Sweeney’s performance is brimming with empathy. He plays Dennis as someone with messed up issues, but who is well-intentioned at his heart, and even his foibles come from a place of emotional understanding. Sweeney’s only feature acting credits are this and his previous film Straight Up -in which he was also the star. Much as his directing career may only be an excuse to give himself good acting roles he certainly proves he has the necessary skills in that department. His performance is quite vulnerable, occasionally nefarious, and often pretty funny. He can deliver sarcasm and a perfectly typical gay sassiness with a sense of originality. And he does carry this movie, a human barometer of its tense though spirited tone.
But though he overshadows O’Brien a little bit, he does give his purported lead actor plenty of opportunities to shine. In the dual roles of Rocky and Roman, O'Brien solidly plays the distinctions in their personalities -something that might go unnoticed given they never share screen-time. And yet they are mirror images, Rocky's confidence and fervour counteracted in Roman's more introverted nature. Obviously, O'Brien spends more time as Roman though and handles very well the turbulent emotional material -in particular a monologue where, Dennis playing the role of Rocky, he gets off his chest all his unresolved feelings and tensions with his brother -which of course also provides Dennis better insight into the nature of their relationship and the hole he has dug for himself as Roman's unique confidant.
Sweeney shoots the film in a broadly naturalistic manner, overhung by a melancholy tone and colour palette dotted occasionally by the film's dark humour in scenes such as Rocky's death or Roman viciously beating up a homophobe on Dennis's behalf. But a notable stylistic choice is Sweeney's use of split-screens at various junctures, most often to symbolically separate Dennis and Roman into different planes and highlight their varying levels of loneliness. For instance, one sequence follows the two of them through the same party, Dennis failing to make a connection with the guys there while Roman strikes up a very immediate chemistry with Marcie. Later, the same technique shows them talking on the phone, each lying in bed -but Dennis is in the dark and alone while Roman is with Marcie and in the middle of sex. While Roman and Dennis are cast in deliberate contrast by this device it is a very shrewd means of linking them, especially by how they are framed -emphasizing a connection that would indicate in spite of different goals or feelings about their relationship, they may not be so twinless after all.
There is no holding back or disingenuousness when the other shoe inevitably drops, and in ending the film Sweeney finds a solid mode of catharsis without letting his anti-hero off the hook while getting to the heart of the movie's meaningful themes. Twinless is a story of brotherhood, whether between twins or folks who grievously want to have a twin -someone who can be depended on, sympathetic and understanding. Even in its ending, the film never forsakes its sense of humour in the dynamic between two people who harmed one another but were also broken people when they met and found some level of healing. Dennis has more to atone for and Sweeney understands this. But he leaves things on a note of cautious optimism in the durability of that connection. Perhaps it even borders on sweet. That the film does this at multiple junctures is a testament to Sweeney's confidence of tone and the effect of both his and O'Brien's performances. A twisted movie, but one with a worthy noble heart.

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