Dir:James Sweeney 2025 100’
Reviewed by Peter Herbert
Twinless is a title suggesting that there can be many multi-layered ideas for creative film-makers with twins as the source of subject matter. This indie film begins with the sound of an off-screen death that shatters the bond of a twin after which filmmaker James Sweeney creates a dark comic rom com with a buddy twist questioning bonds of people born together and what happens when this is broken.
After the opening of the film involving the death of Romain (both twins are played by Dylan O’Brien in a breakout performance) the film introduces twin brother Rocky with scenes revealing sibling tension involving their mother who had a closer relationship with Romain. Joining a support group aiming to heal the loss of a twin, Rocky meets another twin Dennis played by the film’s tour de force actor, writer, director James Sweeney.
The feelgood-natured element of how two very different men are attracted to each other is not entirely removed from the good-natured geniality of classic films about twins including Disney’s The Parent Trap.
The tone changes with the arrival of a young woman who falls for Rocky and the discovery that not everything between the two men is as clear as it all looks. The allows Twinless to become a character study rather than more traditional horror involving twins for the sake of exploitation.
Both actors give remarkable performances. Dylan O’Brien reveals a fearless range of tone from light-hearted joy to morose moodiness, playing both a straight and gay man. He has a sexualised toe-sucking sequence and a shock moment of anger precipitates the film’s final act. Sweeney plays with more limited and controlled range, contrasting O’Brien’s performance. Shifting layers of relationships and identity issues make for a film both light-hearted on one level and thought provoking on another.
Visually the film looks impressive with wide screen colour camerawork by Greg Cotton. This frames the city of Portland in Oregon as an urban background setting allowing characters a sense of space with which to interact as relationships twist and turn.
Credit titles containing the original beautiful Republic Studio logo are not revealed until twenty minutes into screentime and the film is often without music. It advances comparable themes and ideas from Sweeney’s previous film Straight up 2020 and confirms the arrival of a remarkable young creative American filmmaker.
IN UK AND IRISH CINEMAS 6 February 2026