One of the Best Movie Twists of the Year Comes From a Sundance Hit That's Finally in Theaters

"After the movie premiered at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award for dramatic features, an explicit sex scene starring O'Brien leaked online, to both the delight of O'Brien's most ardent fans and the disappointment of the actor himself. Sex scene aside, though, it seemed that the movie was also expected to satisfy in other ways: Critics have been hailing O'Brien for his performance, which they describe as " the performance of the year.""

"Roman is categorically a himbo: He's handsome, slightly boneheaded, as heterosexual as they come (complete with a profound misunderstanding of homosexuality, despite the fact that his dead brother was gay), and a man whose new grief-stricken struggle with life is only mounted onto his preexisting struggle with what to do with it. Dennis is the opposite; smaller in stature, gay, and socially inept, with a nihilistic sarcasm so deadpan that it often masks his sincerity."

Twinless follows Roman, an identical twin who recently lost his brother Rocky, and his unexpected bond with Dennis, a socially inept man he meets at group therapy for the newly twinless. Roman embodies a handsome, naive himbo struggling with grief compounded by confusion about his brother's sexuality. Dennis counters with deadpan nihilism, loneliness, and restrained sincerity. The film premiered at Sundance and won the Audience Award for dramatic features. An explicit sex scene starring Dylan O'Brien leaked online, generating fan excitement and the actor's disappointment. Critics have praised O'Brien's work as a standout performance. The film opened wide in Rated-R release on Sept. 5.

Read at Slate Magazine