Twinless (Blu-ray Review)
Director
James SweeneyRelease Date(s)
2025 (May 12, 2026)Studio(s)
Republic Pictures/Permut Presentations (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: F
Review
Twinless is basically set up by a short film that, in a meaningful way, has everything and nothing to do with everything that comes after the credits. Pre-credits, the film is about Roman (Dylan O’Brien) who has just lost his twin, Rocky, in a fatal motor vehicle-pedestrian collision. Roman, it seems, is the black sheep of his family—Rocky being the favorite. This is illustrated by his fractious relationship with his mother Lisa (Lauren Graham). Both are in Portland to clear up Rocky’s affairs, but Roman sends her home so he can handle it on his own. Working through the emptiness that comes when twins become separated, Roman starts to attend a support group for “twinless” individuals: people who lost their twin to tragedy. There, Roman meets Dennis (James Sweeney), who’s also lost a sibling. Dennis is gay, and we come to learn that Rocky was also gay and a supportive brother and through this connection, Roman starts to lean on Dennis as a friend to help him grieve more efficiently—helping him shop and going out to eat. But Roman doesn’t know that Dennis has ulterior motives and this becomes clear the moment the opening credits end.
The film itself, or at least what exists after the credits, is well written and directed (by Sweeney, this being his sophomore effort after the well-received Straight Up) but wasn’t as good as I was hoping for. I think that’s the inherent problem with movies like this. The trailer does a good job of not giving away too much (which, through a shorter review, I’m trying hard not to do), but it does give you the knowledge that more is going on with this story and with this particular set-up, it could have gone in so many different ways. Your brain is telling you to be ready for Hitchcock or Fincher and instead you get a well-made mumblecore, which is fine but a bit of a letdown. It’s my own fault for having an active imagination and making a prediction that didn’t pan out, I won’t fault the film for that; it’s actually pretty good, just not a movie going experience I would rate high for me. Sweeney is a filmmaker I hope to see more from and if you’re a fan of well-rounded character studies with good dialogue and great acting, pop this one in.
Video is presented with an AVC encoded 1080/24p transfer at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and looks as good as any modern-day film can look on disc. Sound is in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and has a lot of fun atmospheric play. Aside from a digital copy of the film, there are no extras. I was hoping for at least a commentary track with Sweeney talking about some of the hows and whys. There has to be some great technical stuff going on as well, considering Greg Cotton, co-creator of Filmbox, is Sweeney’s cinematographer.
Twinless ends up being a bit more cringe cinema than I was hoping for, but it’s watchable cringe from a talent filmmaker with a lot to say. Not for everyone, but if you love interesting twists you could do worse.
- Todd Doogan