HE GREW ACCUSTOMED TO HIS FACE - My Review of James Sweeney's TWINLESS

*This review will contain SPOILERS*

Going into a film like Twinless, you might have an idea of what to expect but thankfully, the film digs a bit deeper than what anyone may have given it credit for. When it premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the film won their Audience Award and earned high praise for its star Dylan O'Brien. 

Throughout all of 2025, all I kept hearing from a lot of pundits online was that Dylan O'Brien was someone who should be in the Oscars conversation but likely wouldn't be due to the film's smaller profile. It's sadly something that does happen with quite a few Sundance films; I am still highly bummed by the fact that 2023's Rye Lane got dumped onto Hulu that spring and slipped into the ether when I ended up considering it one of my 5 favorite films of that very strong year. 

Twinless seems to be suffering a similar fate, and that is a shame because this was a film that managed to strike quite the chord within me. This is the sophomore outing for writer/director/actor James Sweeney who was also behind the 2019 film Straight Up in which he plays a man with OCD who questions his sexuality...to put that film in the most simplistic of terms. 

That film showed a lot of promise, but I admittedly hadn't thought much about it in the last few years. While watching Twinless, I think I am ready follow his career from here on out.

The film begins at the graveside ceremony for a funeral. Roman's (O'Brien) twin brother Rocky has died; his mother (Lauren Graham) tries to help out but Roman's anger and grief are a bit much for her. Deciding he needs some kind of help, he joins a grief therapy group for people who have lost a twin.

While at his first session, he meets Dennis (Sweeney), a gay man who lost his twin brother Dean. Roman's brother Rocky was also gay and it seems like that connection makes Roman want to explore a friendship with Dennis as he regrets not being there enough for Rocky as they got older. 

And yes, an unlikely friendship forms between the straight bro and the sensitive artsy gay guy...and you think "Wow. Opposites are drawn to each other. How nice!" and even with that thought process, you could be wondering what conflict could arise there. What makes this dynamic worth investing in?

Well...deception, for starters.

We learn that Dennis actually doesn't have a twin at all. In fact, he had a one night stand with Rocky that we see via flashback. Dennis, as the go to hookup, learns that Rocky is a twin and is instantly fascinated to the point that he gets more aroused at the idea of another Rocky lookalike existing. After fucking, the two converse about Roman and how he had been such a supportive brother in their youth. 

Rocky seems a bit more promiscuous compared to Dennis, so when he won't return his calls, Dennis tries to stalk him and discovers him on a date with another man (Chris Perfetti, from Abbott Elementary). He starts lashing out at him, and while distracted by trying to talk to Dennis, Rocky is hit by a car and that is how he dies. 

And with that, we learn that Dennis goes to Rocky's funeral in disguise which we actually saw at the beginning of the film and then manages to slither his way into Roman's life via the support group.

So yes...there is a lot to unpack here. 

For starters, a lie snowballing and making things worse is a topic we've seen many times. However, it takes a fine hand to truly make all sides of it compelling. Thankfully, Sweeney takes this story and imbues it with such complexity that at times I found myself both hating and rooting for him...while also, at times, taking issue with the character of Marcie (Aisling Franciosi, whom I loved seeing her after her exquisite work in 2018's The Nightingale). Marcie is Dennis' perky and pesty coworker whom he finds annoying, but he manages to think she is harmless enough to match with Roman, who takes to her instantly. In a great stroke of storytelling, having Marcie be the one to unravel Dennis' deception is smart but what I really love about it is how her prying at first does come across as invasive and annoying...but in the end, she is clearly in the right. 

Also - her scene near the end of the film when she gently puts Roman in his place of one of his angry outbursts made me love her for her strength.

Odds are if you are reading this review at this point, it more than likely means than you have seen the film. I would hope that if you hadn't, you would've waited. However, with that in mind, you may be wondering why I devoted so much time to spelling out the synopsis. Well, maybe someone actually didn't see it and didn't care about the spoilers so I opted to go that route...but mostly it was for me to spell it out a bit for myself.

I wasn't expecting to have as strong a reaction to Twinless as I did. I am not a twin and I haven't grieved the loss of a sibling or a friend that was close in that manner. However, what I shared in the film was the sense of camaraderie that Dennis seemed to be seeking.

I never had a brother, and I find myself now as I enter my late 30s wishing I had brotherly connections because it is something I haven't consistently had over the years. There was something endearing watching this friendship form between these two despite us learning about Dennis' deception...and when we finally get to the scene where he confesses, I was truly tensing up almost in the same vein I felt tense during most of the runtime for Marty Supreme. 

I will say that once the reveal occurred, the film does slip into the predictable path that one might expect. Yes, it is nice to see the two of them slowly potentially reform their friendship but it also feels too quick and too neat. Having said that though, it is still enough for me to find the film rather successful.

Dennis has a line in the final scene about how people always say to "be yourself", and he adds "well, what version of me?". Even though the film takes on a concept that is a psychological thriller meets black comedy, I think you can look at the film as an analysis towards personal and even sexual identity...which judging by Sweeney's previous film Straight Up, it is a topic that fascinates him. 

I would like to think that I have become the best version of myself, or at least the best version of myself to the current moment. I personally would like to find better fulfillment in my work and also in my mental/physical health...but I would be lying if I said I didn't feel sorry for Dennis. He did a truly horrible thing, like an inexcusable and rather creepy thing, but somehow he manages to find the relationship he needs...even though it is actually a platonic one. 

As you get older, you truly understand the value of friendship as some of those friends from your life drift away and while I often accepted that with grace, I have found at this point in my life, I long to have a stronger social circle again. The pain that Dennis had was relatable to me even though the dire circumstance was far darker.

A lot of the emotions stirred up within me almost seem a bit hard to put into words...so maybe I will leave it at that for now.

Sweeney does a wonderful job here balancing a truly difficult acting job pared with that complex script and great direction that shifts tones with such grace that you would think he has been directing for over a decade rather than this being his sophomore effort. If you really want to see a far more insufferable look at a character who gets caught in a lie and has it spiral out of control, go check out the overrated musical known as Dear Evan Hansen and then you will only appreciate what Sweeney achieves here more.

He has become an artist to watch, much like Eva Victor did with Sorry Baby for me earlier in 2025. It is also wouldn't shock me if this is the role that nets Dylan O'Brien a wider range of script offers because this is a guy who managed to make me get misty while watching this.

The scene in the hotel room when Dennis has Roman talk to him as if he were Rocky is one of the rawest and emotionally intense moments I have seen an actor give in recent years...and even though this year's Best Actor race is far more competitive than it has been in quite some time, I would easily give O'Brien a nomination. He deserves to be right up there with Chalamet and DiCaprio and Hawke.

Twinless, for what it set up out to do, is (forgive me) peerless.

TWINLESS

Rating: 9.5/10