Sundance is about the diamonds in the rough, and James Sweeney’s sophomore directing effort, Twinless, in which he stars opposite Dylan O’Brien won the Eccles audience over on night one of the Park City festival’s 2025 edition. The Republic Pictures title is up for sale.
Sweeney billed the movie as a bit “DePalma and grief drama,” the story about a young man Dennins (played by Sweeney) who loses his gay lover Rocky tragically (played by O’Brien). However, Rocky has a twin brother, Roman. Both Roman and Dennis find each other in a twin-loss bereavaement group, and a complex bromance sprouts.
The pic reps a return to Sundance for producer David Permut who sold the Jack Black comedy Polka King to Netflix, and for O’Brien who was here last year with Ponyboi. Sweeney gave props to Permut who discovered him at OutFest for his film Straight Up.
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‘Twinless’ writer and director James Sweeney on finding the balance between the humor and the dramatic scenes | #Sundance pic.twitter.com/UwElEBQn09
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Twinless comes from Writer-director-actor James Sweeney. It’s his Sundance debut. Sweeney had been working on the script for ten years, and sent it to O’Brien back in 2020.
“I saw all of the Mazerunner movies in theaters,” he joked of how O’Brien got on his radar. “It was actually this YouTube series called Weird City if anyone’s seen it. He’s in the pilot episode.”
“I felt like he saw my voice and he felt so confident in it,” he added about his leading man O’Brien, who “takes ownership for every emotional shift and beat” of the role of twins that he plays in the film.
‘Twinless’ writer, director and star James Sweeney on casting Dylan O’Brien and O’Brien on working with Sweeney | #Sundance pic.twitter.com/ekupSMChPG
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“I’ve always been impressed with his range,” said Sweeney, “I felt that this would be a different role for him.”
On how he achieved the intriguing pace of the script, Sweeney revealed “They say you write a film three times — once in the script stage, once on set, and once in edit.”
O’Brien added, “I opened this script, and I couldn’t stop.” He further exclaimed that the multihyphenate is “every element of a meticulous filmmaker.”
“It’s unlike anything I’ve done ever read:” Lauren Graham compliments James Sweeney on ‘Twinless’ | #Sundance pic.twitter.com/n0ycq2HVHb
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) January 24, 2025
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