Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Twinless’ on Hulu, a challenging yet strangely rewarding indie dramedy by James Sweeney

Twinless (now streaming on Hulu) is a good, memorable and rewarding movie, and you should probably go watch it. And I say that right up front because James Sweeney’s second directorial effort is best if you go in blind, and even a cautious, major-spoiler-avoiding review like this one risks diluting a couple of the film’s surprises. Which is in itself a surprising thing to say, since tiny indie dramedies that debut at Sundance (and win the Audience Award) aren’t usually so twisty or riddled with mind-blowing revelations along the lines of, say, whether or not Captain America dies at the end, or that the killer was actually the protagonist’s cat. Which is to say, I hereby tread as carefully as possible, and assert that movie reviews are just as enjoyable to read AFTER you watch the movie. 

TWINLESS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

The Gist: Roman (Dylan O’Brien) rips open the Pop Tart package and flips the hell out. There’s only one Pop Tart in there, and it is him: Alone, without his identical twin. The first scene of the film is a streetside shot in Portland, Oregon, and we only hear what happens: Screeching tires and a crunch. That’s how Rocky died. Roman stands at the funeral, receiving Rocky’s grieving friends, who struggle to process Roman’s presence, his face, which is not dead, although one exactly like it, save for a mustache, is dead. Roman argues with his mother, Lisa (Lauren Graham), as they pack up Rocky’s belongings: “You need help.” “No, YOU need help!” They both need help. We all need help. Some probably more than others, though.

So Roman attempts to get some help by attending a support group for “singletons” like him. The cookies are terrible and the exchanges are awkward, but maybe it helps a little? One of those awkward moments arrives when Dennis (Sweeney) chats with Roman. Dennis is awkward down to his atoms. Roman warns him that the cookies are terrible and Dennis takes a bite anyway, perhaps to confirm to Roman, hey this guy might be interesting to hang out with. Or maybe Roman’s just desperate for someone, anyone, who understands his particular brand of vestigial existential pain. They get a sandwich. They go grocery shopping together. They stuff as many marshmallows in their mouths as they can and then try to have a conversation. Dennis listens as Roman shares that his last conversation with Rocky was about socks. Rocky was gay and clever and sharp and outgoing and Roman is a normie who likes video games and hockey and weightlifting and is prone to the occasional dumbo-brained Tony Sopranoesque malapropism. They weren’t very close. But they were very close. Emotions, biology – sometimes they just blur together, and Dennis says he can relate.

At this point, 20 minutes in, the title card drops on a 100-minute movie – it’s not like this is Once Upon a Time in the West or something, so it’s an indicator that conventional structures are soon to be abandoned. We get a flashback, a POV switch, some split screens as Roman and Dennis pal around. There’s a scene in which douchebags toss a gay epithet at Dennis and Roman pounds all three of them. Dennis tells Roman to “talk to me like I’m Rocky” and Roman breaks down in a fit of anger and despair. Roman meets Dennis’ cheery sweetheart of a coworker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), and they fall for each other, while Dennis gets a look on his face that we try to decipher. Is it jealousy or, I dunno, something weirder or creepier? Marcie is the type who smiles even when she’s sad; the smile just shrinks a little from its usual state. Eventually we get to a point of high stakes where we yearn for a band-aid to be finally, FINALLY, ripped off. But it always hurts and what’s underneath is always so raw, isn’t it? 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Although I found it somewhat insufferable, Julio Torres’ Problemista comes to mind, being a similar inversion of many characteristics of stylishly “quirky” indie dramedies.

Performance Worth Watching: O’Brien is best known as The Guy From The Maze Runner Movies, so it’s perhaps surprising to see him show such versatility and complexity as the grieving Roman – and as Rocky, in the aforementioned flashbacks.

Sex And Skin: A handful of sex scenes, some getting an 8/10 on the scale o’ graphicness.

Our Take: Some will laud Twinless for its creative visual acumen and/or its unpredictability, but its true triumph is how Sweeney trafficks almost exclusively in emotions so complex, they require multi-hyphenated descriptions because traditional descriptors for them simply don’t exist. Which is to say that Roman and Dennis are really going through it. They can’t label or identify what they’re feeling. It’s a state of confusion and near-stasis, and they’re trying to cope and move on as the world keeps turning, relying on each other for something as simple as base companionship, because it’s the only thing that seems to make sense right now. 

Also admirable is how Sweeney takes all the conventions of a quirky indie Sundance (Audience Award winning) dramedy and roughs it up with coarse sandpaper. He toys with stereotypes, positing his own physically willowy character as someone who’s needy and impenetrable and conflicted and selfish and therefore incredibly difficult to love or even like a little bit, therefore prompting us to root for the kinda-dumb normie who refers to himself as “maybe not the brightest tool in the shed” and has a troubling capacity for sudden bursts of violence and a girlfriend who loves Olive Garden. That Marcie uses the word “Prii” as plural for Prius yet doesn’t inspire us to want to punch her is representative of the film’s rich complexities – she makes up for it by being wide-eyed, endlessly sweet and supportive, wise beyond her years. 

The result is a prickly, narratively challenging film that never lets us settle into a comfortable groove. That, as they say, is a good thing. Maybe a great thing, even. Sweeney shows little interest in talking down to us or comforting us, perhaps a reminder that problems are endured or managed far more often than they’re solved. The filmmaker’s skewed sense of humor draws a few big laughs and a few more uncomfortable ones, pushing Twinless into the realm of dark comedy. It’s quietly ambitious, and as off-putting as it is emotionally effective, something we rarely see in films.

Our Call: Twinless is enough of a rollercoaster that you feel like you’re still on it the day after you watch it. It clung to me like a shroud. It’s not immediately likable, but the more you ponder, the greater its status in the mind. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance film critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Werner Herzog hugged him once.