Dead Ringers
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“I’ve often thought that there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies”
Overview
Jeremy Irons stars in David Cronenberg’s twisted, two-headed tragedy as identical twins Elliot and Beverly, world-renowned gynaecologists who share a clinic, a house and even the women they see outside of opening hours. That is until they meet Claire (Geneviève Bujold), a patient with a wondrous three-chambered womb who Elliot enjoys seducing and passes onto Beverly while she still thinks they’re the one person. Naturally, this ruse can’t last long, especially as Beverly begins truly falling for her, wishing to split with his brother to be closer to her, even if it costs him his sanity.
Why You Should See This Film
Inspired by the stranger-than-fiction case of identical twin gynaecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus, David Cronenberg splits a human soul into two bodies to push beyond typical good twin / bad twin archetypes and beneath the skin into taboo territory, exploring the uncomfortable truths of our corporeal existence. Funny, disturbing and profoundly affecting, Dead Ringers is easily one of our favourite Cronenberg operations for the pumping heart he finds amidst his body horror curiosities, here embodied by Jeremy Irons’ extraordinary duel performance, aided by seamless motion-control camerawork and accentuated by an achingly stringed Howard Shore score that always leaves us weepy.
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