Twinless: Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney – Photo: Roadside Attractions
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the formative experience, when I was in high school, that propelled me to want to pursue this as a career,” says James Sweeney. The career — the “this” — is filmmaking. And the film the 35-year-old director has logged onto Zoom to talk about is Twinless.
“Looking back now, what resonated so much about Buffy was that it reflected life and does not exist or cannot be contained in one genre,” he continues. “It can be a comedy one week, a horror the next, a family drama the following. And [Twinless] is sort of a mix of the DNA and structure of a dark romantic comedy, but also a psychological thriller.”
Twinless is all that — and more. A sharp, entertaining exploration of friendship, obsession, and grief, the story follows two men who have lost their twins in accidents and forge a powerful bond after meeting at a support group. Rocky (a poignant Dylan O’Brien) is straight, and Dennis (Sweeney, tart and wry) is gay, but their friendship quickly becomes a source of comfort. Each fills a missing piece in the other’s puzzle.
The narrative may seem straightforward, but Sweeney proves a deviously clever writer, steering the relationship down unexpected paths that culminate in a perfect payoff. The film stands as a stunning testament to nuance in both storytelling and character-building.
We talk about Sweeney’s experience with twins. Was the film rooted in something from his youth?
“I do have twin friends, and I did date an identical twin,” he says. “And shortly after we broke up, I wrote the first draft. But the film is very much, I would say, emotionally truthful, but factually untrue.”
He adds that dating a twin “brought up a bunch of memories from my childhood of being fascinated by twins — from the Olsons to Sister, Sister — it was just very much in my cultural zeitgeist. It was learning about the idea of twin bereavement that sparked the concept. I found it to be such a unique and profound sort of loss because it is such a loss of self as well.”
It wasn’t easy for Sweeney to get Twinless produced. “Everybody in town didn’t want to make it,” he confides. “They passed on it. I did question my sanity at times…. But it had all the ingredients of something that I wanted to watch. And I just trusted that if it was something that I loved, other people would love it too.”
Those who have seen the trailer might mistake Twinless for a full-on thriller, and while the story contains several surprising twists, it is better viewed as a richly heartfelt dramatic comedy.
“There was studio and marketing pressure to lean into the psychological thriller elements,” Sweeney says of the trailer. “I think what I was trying to convey is that there is more to the story than just the log line suggests. My hope is that the surprise of the film is just how humanist it is.”
He praises the trailer team, who had to be careful not to give anything away. “It was very challenging,” he says. “There’s so much we didn’t want to spoil — and that was really tricky to navigate. So they were working with handcuffs on.”
Sweeney, who is half-Korean and gay, says Hollywood tends to “put people in a box.”
“I’m trying to be very mindful about telling a versatile set of stories,” he says. “And I think that shows in the fabric of this film: It isn’t diluted for straight audiences” — a nod to the film’s thundering gay sex scenes — “but at the same time, I feel like this is a film for everybody.
“I think of myself as a queer filmmaker,” he adds, “but I just want to tell stories that are universal, the kind where you’re not afraid to say, ‘I love this film, but I don’t know if my straight cousin will ever watch it.’
“And I don’t mean that as any degradation of other films in queer cinema, but it’s something that’s on my mind,” he continues. “The primary relationship in this film is between a gay man and a straight man, and I can’t think of another film that centers on that dynamic. I’m conscious of that. In the same way, as an Asian filmmaker, I don’t feel the pressure to represent all Asians, and I don’t feel the pressure to be a ‘good boy gay.’ I just want to tell original stories that connect with people.”
Twinless is Rated R and now playing in theaters nationwide. Visit www.fandango.com.
Even by the unhinged standards of Stephen King’s wicked imagination, the United States of America envisioned in The Long Walk is one fucked up country. And yet, an American society that makes a contest of sacrificing its sons to gun violence, ostensibly for the sake of the republic, doesn’t fall far outside the realm of future possibilities.
King published the novel in 1979, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, when enlisting contenders from each state into a deadly marathon of endurance, forcing them to keep up the pace or be shot to death by soldiers, must have read as an outlandishly grim metaphor for sending boys to war.
One of the homegrown pleasures of early autumn in the District, the DC Shorts International Film Festival returns for its 22nd edition showcasing short film gems from around the world.
The selection of outstanding and acclaimed shorts this year includes 24 world premieres, 6 U.S. and 46 Washington, D.C. premieres, with 108 films total presented across 11 different showcases. Assembled by theme into showcases like "Are You Scared Yet?" and "Thank You for Animation," movies for every taste fill out the plentiful menu.
In addition to the multitude of themes, styles, and languages -- there are shorts from Spain, Japan, France, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, and more -- DC Shorts also expands the cinema celebration to two locations.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
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