In author, director and actor James Sweeney‘s sophomore characteristic, he navigates loneliness, nervousness, melancholy and different frequent millennial pastimes via an equally comedic and heartfelt arc… full with a number of “WTF” moments.
Twinless stars Dylan O’Brien as Roman, a younger man grieving the lack of his late twin brother Rocky. At a twin bereavement assist group, he meets Dennis (Sweeney), who’s struggling along with his personal loss. Lacking their respective different halves, the 2 kind a bromance whereas therapeutic from their shared trauma, however a weird secret threatens their newfound friendship.
O’Brien and Sweeney have a comedic chemistry that can not be denied, with the previous alternating between the emotionally insecure and naive Roman, in addition to his muscled, mustachioed, hunky twin Rocky, who evokes too many run-ins with “imply gays” who’re simply as misunderstood as the subsequent.
Navigating life as a “singleton,” Roman strikes into Rocky’s condo and begins having run-ins with individuals who used to know his late twin. It’s a weird expertise for him as strangers start breaking down in tears round him.
In the meantime, Dennis is what the LGBTQ neighborhood would possibly endearingly (or not) classify as a messy homosexual, whereas his new pal presents a judgment-free friendship that they each want. Working via advanced feelings in really unfathomable circumstances, he operates in a “sure, and” model that ends in compulsive lies and loads of laughs.
RELATED: Breaking Baz: John Lithgow Bares His Soul — And That’s Not All! — In Highly effective Sundance Pic ‘Jimpa’ With Olivia Colman As His Daughter
The short jokes provide a welcome reprieve from the agony beneath each characters’ goofy, awkward facades, which they peel again all through the movie.
Whereas Roman struggles with the estranged relationship he had with Rocky over his sexuality, Dennis is left with guilt over the past phrases he stated to his different half: “Fuck you!” As they arrive to phrases with their losses, they assist one another really feel seen in a approach no twin fairly might.
As a gifted multihyphenate, Sweeney unpacks essentially the most nuanced eventualities fraught with the common feelings of being rejected, dropping a liked one and feeling like your different half simply doesn’t exist. Whereas their motives for in search of out companionship in the end differ, with one harboring less-than-honest intentions, will their friendship show to outlive the unimaginable (and barely unhinged)?
RELATED: Sundance Movie Pageant 2025: All Of Deadline’s Film Critiques
Producers are David Permut and James Sweeney.
Title: TwinlessSection: DramaticDistributor: Republic PicturesDirector: James SweeneyScreenwriter: James SweeneyCast: Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Tasha Smith and Chris PerfettiRunning time: 100 min
