Twins have been a common theme in horror films and macabre master David Cronenberg tackles the topic here. Elliot and Beverly Mantle (Jeremy Irons, A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE) are identical twin gynecologists. Beverly is the shy, scholarly scientist, who developed a revolutionary surgical instrument when he was a student at college. Elliot is a flashy ladies man, who serves as the public face for Beverly’s work.
One day, actress Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold, THE HOUSE OF YES) comes to see Beverly at his office to see if she can get pregnant. During the examination, Elliot switches places with Beverly and seduces Claire. When Elliot gets bored of Claire, he hands her over to Beverly again. Beverly falls in love with Claire, who is quite disturbed when she finds out about Elliot.
In tackling separation issues, the film deals with the closeness of the twins and Elliot’s control over Beverly, who has a leach-like personality and assumes characteristics of the people he is around. Soon enough, Beverly begins to lose his grip on reality. A hopped up Beverly going into surgery is a frightening scene.
Irons dual performances are wonderful. However, the screenplay is subtle to a maddening degree. The pacing is slow and methodical, which works at times and doesn’t work at times. The tone keeps the viewer too much at a distance. Claire seems to be our entry point into the world, but her character is more a collection of types than a fleshed out character.
The film ends up being eerily fascinating, but never truly engaging. There are a lot of great ideas here, but it doesn’t explore them as deeply as I wish it would have, especially when it came to Elliot sharing women with Beverly. Thriller or Cronenberg fans should check the film out, but everyone else looking for a scary twin saga should rent Brian DePalma’s SISTERS instead.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
