Twinless Review: Learning Who You Are After Loss

If you’re looking for a movie to watch this weekend, Twinless is an easy recommendation. Premiering this Friday, 6 February, the film stars Dylan O’Brien, who also serves as an executive producer, alongside James Sweeney and Aisling Franciosi. Written and directed by Sweeney, Twinless is a dark comedy that begins quietly and emotionally, then slowly reveals something far more unsettling.

The story follows Roman (Dylan O’Brien), a withdrawn and socially awkward man struggling after the death of his identical twin, Rocky (also Dylan O'Brien). Rocky was everything Roman wasn’t: confident, intelligent, effortlessly social, and openly gay. His death leaves behind a devastated mother, a wide circle of friends, and most painfully, a twin who now feels like an incomplete version of himself. While sorting through Rocky’s belongings, Roman stays in town longer than planned and eventually attends a twin bereavement support group, where he meets Dennis (James Sweeney).

Dennis, like Rocky, is cultured, well-travelled, intelligent, and gay - a combination that immediately draws Roman in. What starts as a comforting connection grows into a close friendship: shopping together, attending parties, playing video games, and watching live sports. Both men suffer from a deep sense of codependency, shaped by a lifetime of having someone who was always there. At first, Twinless feels like a quirky, tender film about grief and male friendship, but that surface is carefully constructed.

As the film unfolds, the tone subtly shifts. A late reveal pulls the rug out from under the audience, transforming the story from heartfelt to deeply unsettling. Dennis is not who we think he is, and his attachment to Roman is rooted in something darker: an obsessive desire to replace what was lost. The comedy remains, but it curdles into discomfort, blurring the line between funny and creepy as Dennis’s fixation grows. It is Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), Dennis’s coworker, who begins to expose the cracks beneath his carefully curated persona. Observant, wary, and increasingly uneasy, Marcie acts as the audience’s anchor to reality, sensing the danger long before Roman does. Through her presence, the film gains tension and moral clarity, forcing Roman - and us - to confront what Dennis truly wants and who Roman is without his twin.

Twinless explores grief, identity, and the complicated bonds between siblings, friendship, and love. It asks how much of who we are is shaped by the people closest to us and what happens when they’re gone. Anchored by an impressive performance from Dylan O’Brien, the film is whip-smart, strange, and emotionally sharp. It’s no surprise that it swept multiple awards at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, including the Audience Award and Best Acting for O’Brien.

At its core, Twinless is about loss and the dangerous, very human desire to fill the empty space it leaves behind.