Hooptober 10.0 – Dead Ringers (1988)

Being Film #16 for Hooptober 2023

I think the biggest mystery of Dead Ringers is how it didn’t win ALL the awards, especially for Jeremy Irons. I’ve always held the film at arm’s length, admiring its execution but getting precisely what I wanted from a Cronenberg movie. Well that was then and now I’m older and not nearly as dumb (please note I didn’t say I was smart), and I came away from my most recent viewing^* astonished at how deftly Cronenberg works to pair back the more overtly horrific elements into something just as terrifying in its universal feelings of identity, addiction, and abandonment.

THE QUICK SUMMARY: Beverly and Eliot Mantle are identical twin gynecologist who share everything. They are leaders in their field, Eliot the suave player who acts as the “face” of the twins and Bev the introverted researcher. A duplicitous affair with a uniquely afflicted actress starts to split the pair apart, and soon Bev falls into addiction and madness, creating a very specialized set of tools to work on what he sees as mutated women. Eliot’s attempts to bring Bev back yield some truly horrific results. Sometimes you can’t see the connective tissue between twins, but that’s not going to stop Eliot and Bev from making a final, tragic decision…

Early in Dead Ringers after Bev comes home from his “date” with actress Claire Niveau he refuses to share the details with Eliot, wanting to keep something for himself. Eliot responds to the effect of nothing being real for them until they share it with the other, and this line permeates every decision the twins make. It’s truly a performance for the ages for Jeremy Irons, who creates two very distinct personalities that slowly merge and fracture at the same time. By the end of the film there is no clear distinction in our feelings for them, only an empathetic link as we watch two people who truly can’t live without each other, and how their struggles to do that tear them apart and ultimately bring them back together.

For me I think that’s the biggest trick Cronenberg pulls off. Yes, his direction and ability to merge both of Irons’s performances together is still incredible – even when you can see how it’s done it still feels seamless – but what struck me now about Dead Ringers is how much the film makes you truly feel for Bev and Eliot (and Claire as well). It speaks volumes that this was the next film after his remake of The Fly, which was probably the first film of Cronenberg’s where I truly cared about the characters rather than simply see them as part of the flow of the film. I also love the way he continues to use settings to evoke an otherworldliness to his films: Toronto never looked quite so out of time. Also if you know ANYTHING about Dead Ringers, it’s those disturbing red surgical clothes, so pour one out for the amazing Denise Cronenberg, who for as long as she worked with her brother left an indelible mark on his films.

In short, it was great to have a film I’ve long admired but never connected with finally work its way into me. Far from being cold, the movie gives off a heat and alarm that’s a flash against my flesh. I think Cronenberg would be pleased.

* QUICK NOTE: I watched the 1:66:1 “preferred” framing of the film. Just another great transfer from Shout/Scream Factory!