Don't Mention It

 

THE SILENT TWINS (A-minus) - Agnieszka Smoczynska has such an inventive, natural feel for filmmaking that her movies are a wonder to watch. She takes sophisticated ideas and presents them with flair but doesn't detract from the gravitas of the story she is telling. 

We discovered her with "The Lure," the "trippy fever dream, a nostalgic horror musical" about a pair of mermaids emerging from the sea to fulfill their dream of becoming cheesy lounge singers. Smoczynska gets a little more sober here with the true-life period piece about twin sisters who spend most of their life refusing to speak to anyone -- not their parents or their teachers or even psychologists. Cute boys are excepted. And, of course, they talk to each other, building a rich twin inner life.

Smoczynska takes a rich script by Andrea Seigel ("Laggies") and makes it come alive through the intimate interactions between her stars, narrative urgency, and rich fantasy sequence. Letitia Wright stars as June Gibbons, the sister who would channel her creativity into publishing a book, and Tamara Lawrence plays her sister Jennifer, who seems to be the more adventurous and troubled of the two. It is Jennifer who will have the confidence to seduce a jock at school and eventually lead the sisters toward a stupid crime of vandalism that would get them locked up in a psychiatric facility -- and separated, painfully, for the first time.

The film starts in the '70s when these daughters of Caribbean immigrants are little and struggling to fit into their working-class UK environment. (At that age, the sisters are played by Leah Mondesir-Simmons as June and Eva-Arianna Baxter as Jennifer. The casting is spot-on from childhood to young adulthood.) As little girls, their bedroom comes alive with their imaginative stories and artwork and their vivid conversations. They have a fondness for Marc Bolan and T.Rex. But as soon as there is a knock on the door, they fall silent. Out in public they do little more than bow their heads and exchange glances.

As young adults, their challenges only deepens, as they are expected to eventually connect with the rest of the world. Their confinement feels soul-crushing.

Wright and Lawrence never sag under the weight of their monumental roles. And Smoczynska finds a tricky balance between the somber dirge of the narrative and the playfulness of the sisters when they create stories or act out. Those looking for the standard fare of a harrowing biopic dealing with mental health should look elsewhere; rather than try to figure out the roots of the psychosis on display, the film merely offers a representation of what it was like at the time. Do yourself a favor and don't look up the real story of the Gibbons sisters online; instead, start with this fascinating deep dive into the twisted world of troubled twins.

BONUS TRACKS

In addition to period songs from the likes of T. Rex and the Clash, the soundtrack revels in nuggets from the early disco era. Here is one we never heard before, Helen Banks with "Starlight":

And then there is Hot Chocolate ("You Sexy Thing") with the Shaftian "Put Your Love in Me":