Aisling Franciosi, Chris Perfetti, comedy, drama, Dylan O'Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, LGBTQ, movies, Portland, reviews, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, Tasha Smith, Tribeca Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Twinless
September 22, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by James Sweeney
Culture Representation: Taking place in Portland, Oregon, and in Moscow, Idaho, the comedy/drama film “Twinless” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asians and African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Two men become close friends after meeting in a therapy group for people grieving over the deaths of their twins, and one of the men has very disturbing secrets.
Culture Audience: “Twinless” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and dark comedies that are quirky and artistically made.
“Twinless” is a compelling mix of a twist-filled psychological thriller and a wickedly dark comedy. Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney give knockout performances as two friends who have a co-dependent relationship after meeting in group therapy. Some of the plot reveals are more surprising than others, but “Twinless” will still make viewers think about how grief and low-self-esteem can cause people to do extreme things.
Written and directed by Sweeney, “Twinless” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and them screened at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. “Twinless” takes place mostly in Portland, Oregon (where the movie was filmed on location), and briefly in Moscow, Idaho. The story’s timeline is about one year and is told in non-chronological order.
In “Twinless,” Roman (played by O’Brien) and Dennis (played by Sweeney) meet in a Portland therapy group for people who are grieving the deaths of their respective twins. Roman has recently lost his identical twin Rocky (seen in flashbacks and also played by O’Brien), who died when Rocky was mowed down on the street by a hit-and-run driver. Roman’s permanent residence is his hometown of Moscow, Idaho, but he decided to stay a while in Portland (where Rocky lived) to settle some of the legal matters related to Rocky’s death.
Dennis says that he lost his identical twin Dean in a car accident. Dennis tells Roman that Dennis feels tremendous guilt about Dean’s death because Dean had been rushing in his car to pick up Dennis at an airport. Dennis feels that if he hadn’t scolded Dean over the phone for being late, then Dean might not have been speeding, and Dean might still be alive. Dennis says that he and Dean were so close, they were roommates in college.
Roman and Rocky were identical twins but had very different bachelor lifestyles, which led to Rocky and Roman being estranged at the time of Rocky’s death. Rocky was openly gay, had a comfortable job at a tech design firm, and was an intelligent college graduate who spent some time studying in Japan. By contrast, heterosexual Roman is a less-than-smart high school dropout, is frequently unemployed, and directionless in his life. Roman is the type of person who is unaware that his hometown of Moscow in Idaho isn’t the only city in the world with the name Moscow.
Before temporarily relocating to Portland, Roman lived with his prickly mother Lisa (played by Lauren Graham), who is in such deep grief over Rocky’s death, she’s in the type of depression where she finds it difficult to get out of bed. Roman, who always felt inferior to Rocky, perceives Lisa’s depression as an indication that she loved Rocky more than Roman. Other supporting cast members who have standout roles include Dennis’ perky and friendly co-worker Marcie (played by Aisling Franciosi), who works as a receptionist; a gay man named George (played by Chris Perfetti), who had been dating Rocky not long before Rocky died; and Charlotte (played by Tasha Smith), the wisecracking leader of the twin grief support group.
Dennis (who is openly gay and very sarcastic) and Roman (who is heterosexually macho and plain-speaking) quickly become close friends who bond over the losses of their respective twin brothers. About halfway through “Twinless,” it’s revealed that one of these pals has very dark and disturbing secrets that he wants to keep hidden by any means necessary. The well-paced and tension-filled “Twinless” (which has excellent cinematography from Greg Cotten, including artistic use of split-screen imagery) is a fascinating portrait of warped personal reinvention and how it can’t solve someone’s problems if that person still feels empty inside.
Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate released “Twinless” in U.S. cinemas on September 5, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on October 3, 2025.