Dead Ringers
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Featured:  Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein |
Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological horror film starring Jeremy Irons in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists. The film was written and directed by David Cronenberg, and is very loosely based on the lives of Stewart and Cyril Marcus.
Synopsis
Elliot and Beverly Mantle are identical twins and highly successful gynecologists. Elliot, the more aggressive and confident of the two, seduces women who come to the Mantle Clinic. When he tires of them, the women are passed on to the shy and passive Beverly, unaware of the substitution.
When Beverly becomes attached to the troubled actress Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold), it upsets the equilibrium between the twins. The actress' rejection of Beverly sends him into clinical depression, prescription drug abuse and delusions about "mutant women" with abnormal genitalia. Due to the twins' codependent relationship, Beverly's breakdown eventually causes Elliot to follow.
Cast
Jill Hennessy and her identical twin sister Jacqueline Hennessy made their film debut in this movie.
Responses
Dead Ringers won the Genie Award for Best Canadian Film of 1988.
It is the favorite David Cronenberg film of Korean director Chan-wook Park.
