Summary
Dead Ringers is brutal and bold television, featuring two outstanding performances from Rachel Weisz, who is clearly operating on another level here. It may not be perfect overall, with some odd detours and some vague plotting, but this is vital, exciting filmmaking nonetheless.
We review the Prime Video series Dead Ringers Season 1, which does not contain spoilers.
The key to creating an impressive twin performance is ensuring that the two roles are distinctly different. You can’t just have different hairstyles or different accents; their personalities need to be completely different as well. Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) perfects this skill in Dead Ringers, the latest adaptation from Prime Video.
Dead Ringers Season 1 Review and Plot Summary
Created by Alice Birch (Normal People) and based on the 1988 David Cronenberg film of the same name, this psychological thriller centers on the Mantle twins, Elliot and Beverly (both portrayed by Rachel Weisz), expert gynecologists, who decide to set up their revolutionary birthing center.
These siblings are identical in appearance, yet they are very different individuals underneath the surface. Beverly, the one who wears her hair up in a ponytail, she’s the more serious of the two. Passionate about women’s healthcare, she’s determined to transform the birthing experience into a safe and rewarding procedure.
While Elliot, who wears her hair down, she’s as wild and unkempt as her hairstyle. An impulsive addict with an insatiable appetite and a venomous rebellious streak raging inside of her. Elliot focuses on the research side of fertility, desperate to make world-changing discoveries and advances within the field.
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The twins soon seek out investments from billionaires Rebecca (Jennifer Ehle) and Susan Parker (Emily Meade) with dreams of launching their own research and birthing center. They aim to modernize the birthing process and reshape how women mentally approach the whole experience, categorized as nothing short of traumatic.
Everything is going swimmingly for the twins until Beverly goes and falls head over heels in love. This sparks a blazing jealousy inside of Elliot that cannot be reasoned with or resolved. The sibling’s dynamics instantly change, leading to much drama and destruction.
As the series progresses, the drama only intensifies further. The twins try to juggle stressful work schedules. Extreme love lives and biblical rivalries, all against the backdrop of frankly sinister and foreboding clinical surroundings.
Is Dead Ringers Season 1 good or bad?
Dead Ringers is not for the faint of heart. This is an entirely adult drama series. It’s gory, gruesome, surprisingly brutal, and highly sexualized throughout. But it is more of a character study (or character studies) than just mindless body horror.
There is a complex and enthralling story at the center of all this, one that explores the twins’ relationship and the pros and cons of innovation.
Rachel Weisz is just sublime, channeling two very unique performances simultaneously. Whilst the CGI is seamless. The twins feel like two fully formed characters, and they look like they’re realistically interacting with one another in every scene. Overall, the series works best when these two share the screen together, whether bantering, battling, or bonding with each other.
Is Dead Ringers Season 1 worth watching?
Dead Ringers is not for the squeamish viewers out there, and it can be quite self-indulgent from time to time, but this is a truly adult series that deserves your attention.
Commanded by two stunning performances from Rachel Weisz and featuring plenty of shocking, twisted drama, this is sure to be a hot topic of conversation on its initial release.
What did you think of Dead Ringers Season 1? Comment below.
