Sometimes it’s best to go into movies blind, and that’s how I pretty much went into the black comedy Twinless, written and directed by James Sweeney and starring Sweeney alongside Dylan O’Brien. The only whispers I heard about the movie were some of the buzz it generated during this year’s Sundance Film Festival and the stir it made when a sex scene between the characters portrayed by Sweeney and O’Brien leaked on the internet.
With the film finally making its way onto video on demand, I was able to check it out this week, and to say I was blown away would be an understatement. Not only is the project written and directed with wit, care, and honesty, but it also offers up a career-best performance from O’Brien that deserves to be a part of the Oscar discussion during awards season. Yes, he’s that good.
O’Brien first came to widespread attention when he portrayed Stiles Stilinski on the hit MTV supernatural series Teen Wolf. The show ran from 2011 to 2017, and during that time, he also found himself involved in the dystopian future young adult phase when he took on the role of Thomas in The Maze Runner and its subsequent sequels.
His film choices have been interesting as it seems he has mostly rejected taking on roles that his age group would mostly clamor for. He doesn’t seem too interested in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has instead gone for more offbeat roles in projects such as 2022’s Not Okay and 2023’s Ponyboi. The most mainstream thing he has done post-Teen Wolf has been Taylor Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film and even that had more indie sensibilities despite the superstar behind it. O’Brien seems more interested in the content rather than its potential popularity, and these choices have led him to a career-defining moment in Twinless.
Twinless follows Roman (O’Brien), who is grieving the death of his identical twin brother Rocky (also O’Brien). The loss has left him in an unsure place, having lost his better half during a time when they were estranged. He’s dealing with the guilt of all the things that were left unsaid, and it has put him in a very lonely and angry place. His mom, Lisa (Lauren Graham), insists that he needs help, and this leads him to a support group for twins who have lost their twin.
It’s here that he meets Dennis (Sweeney), and they strike up a quick friendship as they’re both in a lonely place. Roman is missing the brotherly bond of having Rocky in his life, while Dennis has a secret that has sparked his loneliness. He lied about having a twin who died because he wanted to get close to Roman following one intimate night with his brother Rocky shortly before he died. Dennis angrily confronted Rocky for ghosting him after their night together, and during the confrontation, Rocky was struck by a car and killed. Both souls need connection and they are looking to feel a void in this darkly funny, yet poignant take on grief and loss.
O’Brien owns every single frame of Twinless, sometimes with just a look. The audience can feel his turmoil and loss just through his eyes, and his simmering anger at his loss is palpable. The actor also manages to play some of these beats for humor since the film functions as a dark comedy, and he manages to seamlessly move along the movie’s shifting tones with ease. Roman is immediately identifiable, and it’ll be easy for viewers to see themselves in him. He embodies all the emotions that come along with losing a loved one, particularly a family member.
He sells the awkwardness of dealing with people who don’t know what to say to you after someone close to you passes away, and he’s in touch with the anger that comes along with having to get things in order. During an early scene with his mom, Roman tries to close out Rocky’s accounts over the phone, and the O’Brien conveys the frustration of the matter in such a realistic fashion that he no longer feels like an actor playing a role.
This becomes even more true as he verbally goes back and forth with his mom, who is trying to help, but he just can’t deal with her intrusion during that particular moment. It would’ve been easy to simply yell through those scenes, but O’Brien’s raised voice is more than senseless yelling. There is pain running beneath the surface of the dialogue. He now has to take on responsibilities he wasn’t quite ready for.
He also channels a sensitivity during his scenes with Sweeney and has to do so in the dual role of both Roman and Rocky. Roman dominates the film, but the audience discovers how Dennis and Rocky met before the fatal accident, and O’Brien makes the brothers distinctly different in a convincing way and without making Rocky in particular into a caricature.
Sweeney and O’Brien have a flirty meet-cute energy during the Dennis and Rocky scenes, and even though the internet has chosen to highlight the sex scene between the two, it really is a small moment that leads to an exchange that resonates much more. As they lay under the covers together, they begin to share elements of their lives, with Rocky detailing his relationship with his twin, their estrangement, and how much he misses him. O’Brien hits all the right notes in the scene with the sheer honesty of his delivery, leading to one of the film’s several standout moments.
The genuine bromance that develops between Dennis and Roman also proves to be a highlight, as it showcases how O’Brien approached establishing the connection differently with his co-star. Roman is a bit more gruff than Rocky, and Dennis is full of self-deprecating snark and intellect. While Roman isn’t “the brightest tool in the shed” (a nice little reference from the film that leads to a funny moment between the two), he has a sense of loyalty that O’Brien portrays admirably. As Roman goes through the early stages of missing his twin brother, O’Brien presents a tough armor that is covering a huge wall of sadness. He gives you the sense he’s about to break.
This leads to what might be called “O’Brien’s Oscar moment.” It’s a scene I wasn’t expecting, and thankfully, it was one that I did not know of before watching the film. After getting drunk with Dennis, the pair engages in an exercise where Dennis pretends to be Rocky so Roman can tell him all the things he didn’t get to tell him before he died. The brothers were virtually inseparable when they were younger, but when Rocky came out as gay, they grew apart, and Roman was too slow to accept his brother’s lifestyle.
O’Brien’s monologue starts off with a level of humor before transitioning into an uncontrollable level of sadness where he breaks from all the weight of the things he never told his brother. What’s impressive about the monologue is how modulated it is. O’Brien doesn’t go straight for the emotional jugular, but when he gets there, it’s a moment that knocks the wind out of you. O’Brien’s entire performance is masterful, but this is easily some of the best acting I’ve seen this year, and the reason alone that he deserves the attention of The Academy.
Holding back O’Brien from getting noticed is that Twinless is a very small movie, and despite receiving a Special Jury Award for Acting at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, O’Brien would need Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions to campaign for him. Indie projects like this have an uphill battle when it comes to being noticed come awards season. Especially when bigger studios eat up the attention with their bigger films and more high-profile actors.
There is certainly a road for O’Brien to be recognized. Just ask Paul Mescal, who managed to land a Best Actor Oscar nomination for 2022’s Aftersun despite the film itself being a well-received indie underdog. Hopefully, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions believe it’s worth it to campaign for O’Brien because there is a road for him to make the cut.
Should he not, Twinless is still great work from O’Brien. It’s emotional, funny, raw, and vulnerable without the actor missing a single beat. If the industry hasn’t fully taken notice, they’re certainly doing it now, but it would be really great to see this special performance carry its way to Oscar gold.
Twinless is now available on digital and video on demand.
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