Twinless (2025) is written and directed by James Sweeney. It stars Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Aisling Franciosi, Lauren Graham, Arkira Chantaratananond, Kody Harvard, Tasha Smith, Cree, Crystal Anne Munoz, Katie Findlay, Susan Park, Chris Perfetti, Davis King, Pauline Dorsey, Jack Clevenger, Francois Arnaud, and Jannette Bloom. The film follows Roman (O’Brien), a young man who joins a support group for people who’ve lost their identical twins. Aimless and alone, Roman soon meets Dennis (Sweeney), another ‘twinless’ man. Through their shared trauma, the two quickly become close friends, but not everything is as it seems. One of them has a terrible secret that could nuke their newfound connection, and it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes to light.

Sweeney’s turn gets a thumbs up, but he struggles to match the talents of Dylan O’Brien, who gives arguably the best performance of his career. Just when I thought 2025 couldn’t possibly produce another dual performance, O’Brien swoops in at the last second with one of its best. His stretches as Rocky, Roman’s unmistakably gay twin, allow him to transform into an entirely different person. These scenes prove his range, but he’s most impressive in his more subtle moments as Roman. He perfectly emulates the film’s precise humor, which pushes comedic unreality as far as it can without undercutting the more grounded dramatic stakes. In other words, most of the humor stems from the inherent absurdity of the premise and its characters’ goofy yet realistic personality flaws. 

It’s a blast to watch the sort of odd couple dynamic between the two leads; So much so, it kind of makes you wonder why we haven’t gotten more of these strictly platonic, gay guy-straight guy buddy movies. I appreciate that Sweeney never gets so distracted exploring Dennis’s experience as a gay man that it becomes his sole defining characteristic. Although his gayness sometimes naturally drives and/or complicates the plot, his sexuality makes up very little of what the film attempts to explore. At its core, this is a film about loneliness, the grieving process, and the double-edged nature of co-dependent relationships. What a relief–a movie about a gay character that isn’t endlessly caught up in their struggle to accept/reveal their sexuality. That’s an undeniably powerful human story, but one we’ve seen/explored to the point of exhaustion. 

The film is noticeably well-shot, evoking the cinematography of Friendship from earlier this year. Although Twinless’s tone is much more grounded and subdued, it occasionally achieves a similar level of awkward unpredictability. Sometimes, you find yourself laughing, but only because of a subtle feeling in the air that something just isn’t quite right with these people. This is obviously a much more tonally-balanced, story-focused film than something like Friendship, but its dramatic elements are effective mostly because the script doesn’t bite off more than it can chew. It’s dramatic enough to feel like a satisfying climax, but it isn’t so wild that it betrays the tone of everything prior. 

Overall, I think this is one of 2025’s best hidden gems and should satisfy pretty much anyone who isn’t afraid of following a gay character. It’s well-shot, efficiently paced, and features a strong script with an intriguing and original premise. Dylan O’Brien deserves a pat on the back; he’s a blast to watch here. Check it out; it sports one of the best mid-movie surprises of the year. B