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A twin never gets to be their own person. It sounds blunt but ask any twin (this critic is not one) and most will tell you the same thing. This lifelong connection to another person may not be the way everyone sees a twin but that does not mean a twin can spend their life seeing themselves as fully individual. If you have a great relationship with your twin then no harm no foul, maybe the two of you will ride off into the sunset with your respective twin partners. But for those that have a lesser than hallmark car connection will have great difficulty branching out while also loving your twin. TWINLESS, the second feature from director James Sweeney may first appear to be the twin grief movie examining a world where twins mourn their identical siblings, but just like any one member of twins the film is far beyond just familiar or identical. A hysterical dark comedy that plays with tonal shifts, TWINLESS is like solving a Rubix cube where it often finds itself in the right patterns even if it can be jumbling complications along the way. And there may be nothing more complex than the way we grieve. Often times it is a process that many stand back and allow us to go through it on our own terms but TWINLESS is not interested in so much the grieving process as it is on focusing on a simple fact that far too many let slide and that is just because you are grieving it does not give you a free pass to be an asshole.

Rocky is dead. An abrupt ending to a life we never got to know. However even with Rocky gone, his twin brother Roamn (Dylan O’ Brien) is keeping his spirit alive. Even if he doesn’t want to. The film’s kneejerk reaction of an opener lets us know early on death is not off limits in its dark look at how humor can be found anywhere. Roman gets no time to mourn his brother (also played by O’Brien) because he is too busy comforting other people who can’t help but break down at the mere sight of him. “You look just like him” they cry as they fall into his arms at the funeral. Even without getting to meet Rocky we can tell Roman is different. He aggressively gets into fighting matches with his broken down mom (Lauren Graham) and spending his days now moved into his brother’s Portland apartment causes him to violent smash walls and find himself at the receiving end of sleepless nights. Finding himself reluctantly at a grieving support group for ‘twinless” people he meets Dennis (James Sweeney) who has also lost his twin brother to an unexpected death. TWINLESS channels early on the awkward buddy comedies that came from the mid 2000’s in a time where movies seemed to flock to the “bromance” elements of frat boy humor and endearing friendships. Roman and Dennis feel beyond worlds as Roman awkwardly asks Dennis if he is gay (he is) mustering up his own courage to talk about Rocky and how he too was gay. But like most male friendships all it takes is one commonality and the two are off to the races. Its hysterical to see early on how easy it is for Roman and Dennis to move past uncomfortable first encounters and quickly move onto hanging out every day, playing the Sims (Roman’s favorite game), going grocery shopping and just trying to get to understand one another beyond their respective twins. TWINLESS almost feels too easy to be true. A film that started on a punchline of death has suddenly become the “I Love You Man” of the new generation. But with only fifteen minutes into the film, the credits start to appear and we are met with the real film that TWINLESS wants to be and boy does it succeed in some truly surprising manners.

TWINLESS is not a film that is riddled with spoilers to the point where one cannot talk about it without ruining the story, however it is a film all about first time experience. Like any fast friendship or relationship it’s impossible to ever know someone and exactly what they bring to the table. For Roman what Dennis brings to the friendship is both a branch out and also a chance to correct past mistakes. Sweeney who wrote the script creates Roman as a product not of toxic masculinity but someone trying to better themselves even if it is easier to get the point across with shouts and fists. O’Brien as both Roman and Rocky delivers a career best. It’s not so much the playing of two parts that is the difficult part but rather managing to create two fully individual beings that can never reach beyond their own twin. This never ends up being a negative because at the root of both men are love for their twin and the regret of distance that has come between. Dennis on the hand plays into a frustrating role that many gay men would classify as “a messy gay.” Dennis has his own secret connection to Roman and when its truth is revealed early on Sweeney is allowed to direct not just a buddy comedy but a comedy that throws back to a time when comedies felt comfortable being downright cruel. Sweeney as a performer fits into the world he himself as created never feeling too over the top even when his role slides deeply into foe instead of friend.

Even its most deceitful moments TWINLESS feels like a film so in love with its genre that it becomes all the more exciting when it shows the respect the genre it deserves with exciting camera techniques. There’s split screens, road trip montages, and even a romantic (bromantic?) night under the Seattle stars. In a time when it is rare to catch a comedy in theaters (Twinless has not yet been given a theater or streaming release) TWINLESS plays like a wonderful crowd pleaser to a crowd that is willing to take this darker ride. At times it choose quirky over full bizarre and one could argue that it doesn’t fully go for every dark turn it sets up, but it also is a loving film not just to its ideas but its cast as a whole. O’Brien and Sweeney shine as well as an array of supporting members from Abbot Elementary’s Chris Perfetti to Susan Park playing Dennis’ peculiar and distant boss. But in a film that dominates the idea of the duality of man it is Aisling Franciosi as Marcie a receptionist at Dennis’ job who balances out these two deeply sad men. Franciosi who has been making a name for herself with films such as “Speak No Evil” and and “The Nightingale” is never used as a female support for the men in the film but rather a confident woman who stands by but never belittles herself for the problems of these men. Its part of the many tonal shifts of the film where some work better than others but it still shows a clear vision from Sweeney that is often missing from modern comedies.

TWINLESS is the kind of film that, while universal in its themes feels almost tailored for a specific audience, (this critic being one of them) but its also a film that deserves a chance. The film takes some big risks and in doing so earns the attention of an audience willing to understand even if not agreeing with how cruel some of the behaviors can get. A comedy that we could use more of, and while it’s inspirations are all on the forefront this is still a film that will not be paired down with another or worse be seen as just an identical twin.

A-

TWINLESS PREMIERED AT THE 2025 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN THE U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION. IT IS CURRENTLY SEEKING U.S. DISTRIBUTION