The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival unspooled in Park City, Utah on Thursday with a packed schedule of red carpet premieres and Main Street-set parties. The night’s centerpiece showing came courtesy of Sundance newbie James Sweeney, who presented the world premiere of his sophomore feature, Twinless, in which he co-stars opposite Dylan O’Brien.
Sundance director Eugene Hernandez was first to the stage inside the Eccles Center Theatre as he kicked off the festivities with some official announcements and thank yous before welcoming Sweeney and O’Brien to the stage to introduce their years-in-the-making collaboration. And their comments telegraphed that while the film offered a seemingly dark premise — two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance — Thursday night proved to be anything but a downer.
“We are James and Dylan,” O’Brien stated from the podium. “We are not twins in real life, so I want to just set that record straight before I continue to get asked about it. This is not a documentary about my twin, who I’ve [hidden] from the world for years. We’re completely unrelated.”
Sweeney kept his comments brief by telling the audience that he believes the best movie going experience is “going in blind with low expectations, so I’m not going to say anything else other than that.” Though he did offer a few more, his words also proved to be helpful in adjusting to the take two that occurred prior to Twinless hitting the big screen due to some brief yet unfortunate technical issues.
As the Sundance promo video played, it was clear that there were audio issues, with seconds-long moments of no sound. Just as the movie was set to start, the screen went black and the lights in the Eccles came up. A Sundance staffer came on the stage to inform the capacity crowd of 1,200 that the screening would be delayed. “We’re just going to do a really quick check to ensure that you have the best possible screening experience. It’ll be back onto a couple of minutes,” said the staffer.
Around 10 or more minutes later, the movie began, though the audio drop continued to plague the screening a handful of times when sound cut out, leading to audible groans from several audience members due to missed words here and there. Fortunately for the filmmakers, it had no impact on the crowd’s enjoyment, with O’Brien’s committed performance charming the festival audience. Worth noting that he plays both twins, one gay and one straight, opposite Sweeney’s grieving Denis, who has some genuinely heartfelt, hilarious and shock moments.
O’Brien broke out with roles in popular young adult titles Teen Wolf and the Maze Runner franchise, but as of late has emerged a festival darling. He touched down in Park City last year to promote the Sundance selection Ponyboi, and was last seen on the big-screen in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, a breakout favorite from last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival. It was announced this week that O’Brien will star in Sam Raimi’s latest feature, Send Help, which is in pre-production. But first O’Brien is on hand in Park City to support Twinless, which is looking for distribution out of the festival.
“This has been a long labor of love for this partnership. This is a very exciting moment for us and for him,” O’Brien added about the Twinless experience during the introductions. “He’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to be a part of, and this is a really, really special night for us.”
Earlier on the red carpet, O’Brien, who has an executive producer credit on Twinless, revealed that Sweeney’s original script reeled him in as the words on the page produced the perfect swirl of humor, tragedy, heart and twisted situations. “It just kind of encapsulates a lot of what I love in a film — all these sort of clashing elements that I think are so well-balanced with the emotionality and the authenticity of this world, these characters and their relationships.”
Sweeney returned the compliments. “He’s the best,” he said of his co-star, with whom he shares many hilarious and heartfelt bromance scenes as well as a steamy sex scene. “I mean credit to him. He stuck with this movie since 2020, which is when we first met. He was just the perfect partner in crime. He’s a phenomenal actor and I think it was a really special experience working with him.”
As for the subject matter, Sweeney chose his words carefully as to not convince people that he’s some “weirdo” who is obsessed with twins. “But, yes, I find them fascinating. I grew up watching Sister, Sister and [Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen] and their various canceled TV shows,” said Sweeney, who previously directed Straight Up. “They’re icons and [twins] sort of represented the perfect best friend that I, as a military brat hopping around in different states, kind of craved at that moment.”
In college, Sweeney had a minor in research psychology, and it was during his studies that he came across research projects on twins. “They’re sort of considered the ‘perfect specimen,’” he explained. “That’s where I first learned about the concept of a twinless support group. It really struck me because it leads to such a loss of identity, which is a theme I think I’m very interested in exploring. So much of identity for twins is shared, and the idea of losing that half of yourself I felt was really emotionally potent.”
Also potent were his compliments for veteran producer David Permut, who produced Twinless after discovering Sweeney’s earlier film at Outfest. He praised him as an ever-positive and indefatigable force in never giving up on his movie even when it seemed like it might not get made.
As for Graham, she told THR that she was proud to be back at Sundance for support the film, in which she plays the mother of O’Brien’s characters. “[My part] is really small. I wasn’t thinking about anything except that I wanted to be part of this filmmaker’s journey, and how much I love Dylan’s work. I don’t often get offered something a little darker and that was felt like a cool challenge. And I just really love these people. They’re good people.”
The Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 23–Feb. 2.
Twinless filmmaker James Sweeney shares the backstory of his collaboration with Dylan O’Brien (and how he saw all the Maze Runner films in theaters) and what impressed him so much about his talent. And DOB gives his side too, leading to this real friendship on and off screen.… pic.twitter.com/Y5K5RAq2xb
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) January 24, 2025
English (US) ·