Prime Video launched its new thriller series on April 21; Twins: Morbid Similarity. Starring Oscar winner Rachel Weisz and signed by Aline Birch—also responsible for Normal People e Succession— the production even has a good premise, but fails to develop the text well and becomes somewhat absurd.
To begin with, we follow the lives of Beverly and Elliot Mantle, two twin gynecologists who have a codependent relationship. They share everything; the love for the profession, the house, the patients and even love relationships. Abusing the lack of respect, they also change places whenever necessary, no matter if it will impact other people’s lives.
Despite this extremely close relationship, the two have different personalities. While Beverly is more calm and loving, Elliot is energetic and bossy, even commanding his sister.
This premise has already been worked on previously, in the eponymous film by David Cronenberg, released in 1988, and starring brilliantly by Jeremy Irons. And it was from this feature film that the idea for the series emerged, with the aim of recreating and honoring the work, but changing the gender of the protagonists, who would now be women, and addressing more feminist themes such as abortion, postpartum depression and obstetric violence. .
Plain text disappoints
Looking from the outside—before pressing play on the first episode—you can see that Twins: Morbid Similarity it has a lot of potential to please, precisely because it addresses such important topics and uses this dynamic of the good twin and the bad twin, but abusing other elements, such as the bizarre and the macabre that is in this codependency.
What happens, however, is that the text skates a lot, and says nothing. During the six episodes, we wait for something really important to happen, but we only receive frustrations.
Neither Elliot’s drug addiction, nor the twins’ strange relationship with their parents, nor the pair’s bizarre maid is well developed. At a certain point we think the plot is going to advance, when the gynecologists’ parents enter the scene to stay at their house for a week. But what you see is a sequence of empty dialogues, which give some clues as to how their relationship with their daughters is also strange, but which does not explain anything.
Why don’t the four get along? Why don’t the twins feel comfortable in their presence? Why does their mother tell Beverly that she will be a terrible mother? All this remains unanswered.
Another intriguing character that promises to bring important revelations is Greta (Poppy Liu), the doctor’s maid. Always dressed as if she were going to a party, she cleans and organizes the house, at the same time as she collects and keeps her employers’ personal items, such as pads, cotton swabs and used toilet paper.
Why does she do this? In the end we found out that it was to put together an exhibition that tells the story of her birth and her mother’s death in childbirth. But what does this have to do with the twins? Apparently nothing. It’s just another attempt by the script to insert another theme related to pregnancy.
beyond the absurd
It was already known that the series would focus on the absurd to bring the necessary doses of terror, and that is not the point that bothers. Grotesque scenes, mismatched dialogues and a lot of graphic representation of births give the surrealist and scary tone that the series asks for, the problem is that such absurdity goes beyond the points in some moments and becomes loose.
With the lukewarm and boring text, the production becomes uninteresting and not even the excellent performances are able to save it.
cast positively surprises
Despite the weak text, the cast of the series knows how to support the plot well. The highlight, of course, is Rachel, who masterfully manages to differentiate the two twins, both physically and emotionally. She doesn’t miss the tone, and delivers impactful scenes with ease.
Another one that stands out is Britne Oldford, who gives life to Geneviève, a famous actress who becomes romantically involved with Beverly and has to deal with Elliot’s unhealthy jealousy, who feels abandoned and orphaned by her sister. The Canadian actress has on her resume Hunters, Skins, The House of Fearamong other productions and does not disappoint in front of the cameras.
The other supporting actors also please and help to make the story less bad. Jennifer Ehle, for example, gives life to Rebecca, a tycoon who only thinks about profits and sees motherhood as an opportunity to earn money.
Photography impresses
If we can highlight a positive point of the series, in addition to the cast, of course, it is the photography. Despite having unnecessarily dark scenes, the production knew how to use the different shades of red well to shock. Even the medical clothes (the famous scrubs or hospital gowns) are red, something unusual in medicine, since this tone does not allow the blood on the clothes to be seen clearly.
With these points in mind, we can safely conclude that Twins: Morbid Similarity hits some points and starts from a good premise, but delivers a bad execution, leaving loose ends, incomplete characters and non-connected dialogues.
With only six episodes, the series, which is called in the original Dead Ringers, does not deliver what it promises and is likely to disappoint even fans of the genre. Anyone who wants to give her a chance, however, can find the complete season on the platform Prime Video.
