Showrunner Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth, The Wonder) and actor/executive producer Rachel Weisz (Constantine, The Mummy, The Lobster) give a contemporary, gender-swapped spin on David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller Dead Ringers, based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland. Weisz assumes the dual role of twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle, played to creepy perfection by Jeremy Irons in the 1988 film, signaling a vastly different take on the source material. While Birch and Weisz maintain respect for Cronenberg’s work throughout, “Dead Ringers” establishes it has no interest in retreading the same path.
Beverly and Elliot Mantle share everything. They do everything together, right down to their ambitious career pursuits in blazing a path forward for women’s health, namely reproductive health, even if their methods can be risky or boundary-pushing in their experimentation. Yet they couldn’t be further apart in personality, reflected in their style choices. The meeker and more reserved Beverly wears her hair pulled back and dresses conservatively, while her confident and daring older sister lets her hair down and gets drawn to more colorful outfits. Even their life goals are different, though that doesn’t stop the twins from occasionally swapping lovers, partaking in vices, and dabbling in questionable ethics with work.
The Mantle twins’ mission to change how women give birth threatens to derail when actress Genevieve (Britne Olford, “American Horror Story”) enters the equation, driving a wedge between the co-dependent sisters that will irrevocably change their lives.
Photo Credit: Amazon Studios
Birch, an all-female writing team, and a handful of notable directors, including Sean Durkin (The Nest, Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Karyn Kusama (The Invitation, Jennifer’s Body), establish a heightened sense of reality straight away. The Mantles live in a more absurdist, disconcerting version of upper-class Manhattan. Never is that more apparent than when the twins attempt to woo and get in business with affluent investors Rebecca (Saint Maud’s Jennifer Ehle) and Susan (Emily Meade) to launch a technologically advanced and experimental birthing center. “Dead Ringers” really leans into the absurd whenever the well-off Mantles must impress or engage with their powerful and peculiar business partners. Birch wrings palpable tension from several cringe-inducing dinner scenes with this bunch.
“Dead Ringers” is overt and unabashed in its feminine imagery, highlighting the pain and perils of childbirth. While the horror favors the psychological in this series, along with extreme emotional duress, it’s fearless in its explicit portrayal of pregnancy and giving birth, complete with close-up shots of crowning baby heads pushing through dilated vaginas, graphic c-sections, embryos, and a ton of spilled blood. It opens up a slew of subtext and subplots, though “Dead Ringers” isn’t interested in exploring the fertile ground as much as expected; this series only has eyes for its central co-dependent relationship.
Photo Credit: Amazon Studios
Rachel Weisz effectively creates two distinct characters that, through their unhealthy bond, feel like two halves of a whole. That’s reinforced by the unique structure of the six-episode series, which presents a darkly funny first half that gives way to a more dread-infused, psychologically heavy back half that feels representative of the twins’ warring personas. The shift in tone can be jarring, made more so by so many underserved, scattershot ideas and subplots swirling around Beverly and Elliot’s unwavering motivations.
Alice Birch uses red heavily to pay tribute to Cronenberg throughout, both in homages to his imagery and Genevieve’s reputation for her role in the fictional TV series “Rabid.” Connections between his work and this reimagining cease there, though. “Dead Ringers” is a wholly different beast that feels more akin to the work of Stanley Kubrick in its style, imagery, and sometimes cryptic storytelling. “Dead Ringers” is well crafted and daring, and Weisz’s compelling dual roles inject unpredictability. Yet the series ultimately stretches itself too thin, faltering its unapologetic approach along the way.
All six episodes of “Dead Ringers” debut exclusively on Prime Video on April 21, 2023.
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