Dead Ringers (1988)

David Cronenberg’s tale of twin gynecologists descending into madness will either wholly intrigue or completely turn one away. Cronenberg’s films almost always deal with an obsessive interest in the dealings of the mind and flesh, with the two battling it out for supremacy with one another. Here the theme is no different, as we are introduced to Dr’s Beverly and Elliot Mantle, identical twins who run a gynecological clinic in Toronto. As one brother slips into drug addiction and madness, the other feels that he to must experience what his brother is going through in order to cure him of his problems. There’s also an obligatory love interest in an actress type whom both brothers are banging, with she being the sole cause of the brothers introduction to narcotics galore. As the drugs and insanity intensify, one brother becomes convinced that his patients reproductive organs are mutating into something “different”, and if you’re a female I’m sure you’ll cringe at the home designed gynecological instruments devised to deal with such patients. Ouch. There are several disturbing sequences here but overall it’s all rather talky and rather self-absorbed. Jeremy Irons does a tremendous job portraying the two twins and there various states of emotions, though the characters themselves are just too arrogant and snobby for the viewer to really give to shits about, much less relate to. “Dead Ringers” does have its rewards, but this one is mainly of interest for Cronenberg buffs only.