In author, director and actor James Sweeney‘s sophomore characteristic, he navigates loneliness, anxiousness, melancholy and different widespread millennial pastimes by way of 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 help group, he meets Dennis (Sweeney), who’s struggling together 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 following.
Navigating life as a “singleton,” Roman strikes into Rocky’s condominium 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 group may endearingly (or not) classify as a messy homosexual, whereas his new pal provides a judgment-free friendship that they each want. Working by way of complicated feelings in actually unfathomable circumstances, he operates in a “sure, and” fashion that ends in compulsive lies and loads of laughs.
The fast 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 mentioned to his different half: “Fuck you!” As they arrive to phrases with their losses, they assist one another really feel seen in a manner no twin fairly might.
As a gifted multihyphenate, Sweeney unpacks essentially the most nuanced eventualities fraught with the common feelings of being rejected, shedding a beloved 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 inconceivable (and barely unhinged)?
RELATED: Sundance Movie Competition 2025: All Of Deadline’s Film Evaluations
Producers are David Permut and James Sweeney.
Title: Twinless
Part: Dramatic
Distributor: Republic Footage
Director: James Sweeney
Screenwriter: James Sweeney
Forged: Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Tasha Smith and Chris Perfetti
Operating time: 100 min
