Twinsanity is a psychological thriller about twin sisters – one good, one insanely evil. Get it? See what they did there with the title? Now available on Netflix, Twinsanity sadly never comes close to achieving the cheesy fun its title promises. Originally titled Downward Twin, the Buz Wallick-directed thriller patterns itself after ‘90’s movies like Single White Female and The Crush.
Synopsis
Celeste and Leann are twins and virtually inseparable. They’re expanding their business – One Heart Yoga -with a new location. On the surface, it’s the perfect partnership. Celeste teaches the classes, while Leann runs the business. But following the death of their mother, Celeste yearns to build a life of her own. One night, Celeste packs her bags and leaves for a spiritual retreat. Now truly alone for the first time, Leanne becomes dangerously unhinged. How far will she go to get her sister back?
Twinsanity Suffers From Inept Detours From a Familiar Narrative
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the psychological thriller was big. Basic Instinct, Single White Female, Pacific Heights, The Crush, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle – guilty pleasures all with similar plot beats. On the surface, Twinsanity is a similar type of movie and should follow a similar script. Yet Twinsanity opts to deviate from familiarity in odd, ineffective ways.
…Twinsanity feels disjointed.
Why does Celeste feel smothered by Leann? Did something happen in their childhood? Did their now deceased mother play a role? Who knows. Screenwriter Julian Broudy doesn’t seem the least bit interested in addressing these questions. Idea are introduced and discarded just as quickly. An old male friend turns up in one scene, hinting at Leann’s troubled past. But the idea is forgotten by the next scenes. There’s no follow up. As a result, Twinsanity feels disjointed.
Twinsanity Lacks Everything A Psychological Thriller Requires
Good psychological thrillers twist and turn. They make you grip the hand rests on your chairs while you sit on the edge of your seat. Though it fancies itself a thriller, Twinsanity is almost completely devoid of suspense and thrills. Forget about about the sexual provocativeness of Basic Instinct. Don’t even expect the cheesy fun of late 90’s thriller, Fear. Netflix’s Bad Match is asinine, but at least it’s memorably stupid.
…Twinsanity is a boring, tiresome effort.
In contrast, Twinsanity is a boring, tiresome effort. Horror fans will be disappointed by the lack of gore and inventive kills. Thriller fans will be under-served by the complete absence of mystery and intrigue. Twinsanity is as dull as it is unimaginative. Without any background story, it’s almost impossible for the movie to achieve any level of mystery or suspense.
Under-Developed, Unlikeable Characters
Perhaps Twinsanity’s biggest problem is that none of its characters are likeable or relatable. And this includes ‘good’ twin, Celeste, played by Karissa Strain. In fact, Celeste’s character is kind of a self-absorbed jerk. Screenwriter Julian Broudy writes ‘Celeste’ as a ‘new age’ soul searcher trying to find herself. Yet with only a skeletal characterization, she comes as selfish. By the end of the movie, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for her.
As evil twin, Leann, Katie Strain doesn’t fare much better with the awful screenplay. Simply put, Leann is less a character, and more a collection of psychological thriller stereotypes. No background, no clear motivation, Leann is crazy because she slaps herself, or slams her face into a mirror.
Twinsanity is this Year’s Bad Match
Twinsanity is to 2019, as Bad Match was to 2018. At least in the case of Twinsanity, othe reviewers seem to smell the stench around it. This is a movie that’s so tiresomely bad that it can’t even pick the right bad parts of other generic thrillers to imitate.
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