Parents' Guide to Twinless

Sweeney's dark dramedy navigates a delicate line between grief and absurdity and benefits from O'Brien's fabulous twin performances. Twinless is the sort of film audiences should watch as spoiler-free as possible, so as not to ruin the emotional impact of the plot twists. At first, the grief-forged friendship between Dennis and Roman feels tender and restorative, but the stakes are high: Both men teeter between connection and isolation, risking further emotional damage if their tentative support for each other fails. As a writer, director, and actor, Sweeney doesn't shy away from the awkward humor and messy neediness that accompany loss. The film is as much about what remains unspoken (longing, resentment, despair) as it is about what's overtly said about the inimitable grief of a twin—or, as Dennis puts it, the only person who's been with you for your entire life.

Sweeney's performance is particularly striking because Dennis is the rare character who becomes increasingly unlikable as the story continues, bordering on insufferable. He's jealous, manipulative, and prone to self-pity. Through his own incisive writing and willingness to lean into cringe-worthy discomfort, Sweeney wrings real compassion for a character who's paralyzed by loneliness. But it's O'Brien who carries the movie, with his nearly unrecognizable turn as both twins and the humanity he gives to the so-called "lesser" twin. Twinless doesn't offer easy answers about its morally gray characters or their trauma-induced behavior. But the film cleverly invites audiences to laugh and offer uneasy empathy toward characters who are, on the one hand, terrible, but, on the other, heartbreakingly vulnerable.