Themes of Objectivity versus Subjectivity with ‘Twinless’ Filmmaker James Sweeney

In Twinless, two young men meet in a twin support group and form an unlikely friendship. Roman (Dylan O'Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) both search for solace and an identity without their other halves and soon become inseparable outside the group. But when Roman meets Dennis’ ebullient co-worker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), all is revealed to be not what it seems, as each man harbors secrets that could unravel everything.

In a time of sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and origin stories, there’s been a dire need for original stories and voices. We’re now seeing a shift (hopefully one that stays) in more original stories being explored on the big screen. One of those voices is James Sweeney, the writer-director and actor of his latest feature, Twinless, whose film hits the big screen on September 5. James tackles grief, love and loneliness all in one go, with a healthy dose of sincerity and humor. There’s a lot to take away from the film on a human connection level, but also an appreciation of craftsmanship.

James Sweeney spoke with Script about the importance of tone and structure, maintaining the narrative’s emotional impact and thematic consistency, the power of POV, and so much more.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: How did you land on the seed for this story?

James Sweeney: Well, I wrote the first draft of this script in 2015 after my identical twin boyfriend broke up with me. [laughs] I remember the initial concept, though, came from learning about a twin bereavement support group. I don't know when that happened, but when I first unearthed that idea, it just seemed like the saddest thing in the world to me, and a singular and profound experience of grief that I thought had a lot of interesting implications about identity.

Sadie: I really enjoyed how you worked in the parallels of grief and comedy. Exploring grief through a comedy lens isn’t easy.

James: It's a balancing act, for sure. I think structurally in the script, it's trying to establish the tone from page one and making sure there is room for levity and room for, because of the darker comedic elements that will unfold, trying to plant early on moments of darkness or acerbic humor. Overall, I say the film was a challenge from a bird's eye view of layering plants and payoffs.

Sadie: It works. Knowing that you started writing this script in 2015, was it also intentional for you to direct and act in?

James: I don't remember what my specific intentions were when I wrote the first draft. At the time, I was primarily focused on getting my first feature Straight Up off the ground, and I had written two other scripts as well prior to. I think Twinless was my fourth feature script that I had written. And those two other scripts I'll probably never make and also were not roles for me in them. I think I'm just writing stories that speak to me, and it just happened to be the follow up to Straight Up, where I happened to also be acting and directing in it.

I'd say now I'm probably thinking a little bit more strategically in terms of the filmography of my career and the sequential order of it, but at the time, I'm just writing to write because you never know what's going to attract attention.

I did feel like I had never seen a film about twin bereavement. So, I did feel like there was a uniqueness to the concept and also the tonal balance that I thought would attract production companies. But to be frank, we sent it - I had management at the time - but they sent it to just a couple of places. Nobody really bought into it, and so I kind of just put it on the shelf. It was really off the heels of Straight Up, when I met my producer, David Permut, that reinvigorated interest. I didn't do a necessarily page-one rewrite, but I did a structural revamp. And I just learned a lot from producing my first film, and kind of tried to apply those lessons. And we're always growing as writers.

Sadie: The power of POV and how you utilized it so well between all these characters, especially, starting off with Roman in the beginning, and then the twist…

James: I am anal about perspective. That was actually one thing I brought from Straight Up into Twinless. The film was initially written entirely from the perspective of Dennis, but one thing that I felt like I got a lot of positive feedback on was the balance of the dual protagonist story in Straight Up, and for me as a multi-hyphenate, it also relieves a lot of the pressure to be able to share that, especially when we're chasing a movie star to lend themselves to the project.

And I had the idea for a while, it just sort of concretized, and then, when I had conversations with David Permut, in terms of then revising the structural narrative shift, what I loved about the idea was how much more it would root you, because you initially see Dennis solely through Romans perspective, which I think you're already on his side by the time that we switch to Dennis's perspective. Which I think helps with building empathy and understanding where he's coming from, and you've already, hopefully bought into the friendship at that stage. So that was a major revision shift that happened years after the initial draft. But I think it had also then had a ripple effect on other choices that we made as well.

Sadie: What was your approach to mapping out these characters?

James: It varies project to project. I think for this script, there wasn't very much outlining or character backstory documents. It was mostly just writing pen to paper. I'd say, in the revision process, I guess I was speaking earlier to the first draft, in the revision process, I was more focused, like I did character drafts, especially when I then tried to balance out the perspectives. I had to dig a lot deeper to understand Roman more, and understanding who he was. But also, for Rocky, I did a Rocky draft, because I think the more fleshed out both characters are, the more you understand the rift in their relationship and the implications that had for how and why Roman is the way that he is.

I think it's helpful to focus on, for me, one character's perspective, especially when I'm overall, kind of going back to your earlier question about POV, I am pretty strict in terms of, like, I'll never show a scene from a new character's perspective, if I haven't established that. Like in the first act, everything is from Roman’s perspective, and then we switch, everything's from Dennis's perspective.

And it's actually the split screen at the Halloween party, where we share perspectives moving forward, then we go back and forth. And I was very clear about that structure internally, because I'm also dealing with themes of objectivity versus subjectivity, so I needed to really have the scene and character perspective amplify the visual language that I was trying to build. So, for me, it's all integrated.

Some of that is helpful, because I am the director, so I know what I'm intending to do. I wouldn't say I'm skipping steps, but maybe I'm embedding things into the screenplay, or omitting things, because I'm pretty sparse with some of my prose, so that's always, I guess, a challenge for me.

Sadie: Was there a thematic North Star?

James: Well, the push and pull of the film is the cognitive dissonance of the audience, wanting both to root for something to happen and also for that same thing not to happen. I'm consciously trying to track that, and course it throughout the film. I want to preface by saying we got greenlit two weeks before the WGA strike. So, it was a very depressing summer where I also couldn't work on it. And then once we got the green light, when both strikes resolved, it was, ‘go, go, go.’

I didn't have, I'd say maybe the time, at that point, and space to sculpt this script as finely as I wanted. I was rewriting throughout the production process, which is normal, and some of it was for logistical reasons. Like the monologue about The Sims was originally about a different video game that we couldn't get cleared by Nintendo, and The Sims worked out so beautifully. And actually, was an artifact from a previous draft that I just brought in, and now, has become our hero image. So that was a happy accident.

But there was a lot to juggle in terms of the production and the writing. One thing I did consciously as a director and producer on the film was try to construct the shooting schedule creatively, to have the final diner scene as close to the end as possible, because I had an instinct that how the filming process goes might shape certain pieces of dialogue that may or may not shift. So, to answer your question, the North Star for me was also earning the ending. And making sure that the resolution or lack of resolution felt fitting and intentional.

Sadie: Are there any specific themes or stories that you find yourself drawn towards in exploring?

James: I'm interested in continuing to tell stories that are contemporary and original. I have a back catalog of ideas that I'd like to get out of my brain while I have the momentum. [laughs] And maybe when that subsides, I'll be more interested in adaptations or just directing. But right now, while I have the energy, because it's so hard to do anything original, in terms of dealing with the powers that be, but right now, I feel a bit recalcitrant, [laughs] so I want to encourage that.

Twinless releases exclusively in Theaters September 5, 2025.