Based on the fascinating case of twin girls who devolved into a cycle of obsessive silence and loyalty to each other, The Silent Twins tells an excellent story, but doesn’t always keep your interest.
Long before I was theatre critic and movie reviewer, I worked in the mental health world. I was a case manager at a nursing home, and later the admissions coordinator at a hospital. I loved working with this population and their families, and I am still fascinated by mental health situations that are unlike others because I feel that it’s important to always keep learning. So when I read about this story, I definitely had to watch the film.
The Silent Twins is about real life twins, June and Jennifer Gibbons. From a very young age and continuing into their teen years, June and Jennifer did not speak to people, instead choosing to only speak their made up twin language or not speak at all. School and medical professionals repeatedly separated them and brought them back together, but ultimately they spent years locked in their room and then later, in a mental health hospital. During their lives, they spent time imagining with dolls as well as writing poetry, short stories, and novels.
There are many captivating concepts involved with the twins’ lives, but the one that I think most about is their relationship with each other. They loved, hated, and were wholly enraptured by each other. They tried to kill each other and were locked in a state of compulsion to only engage with their twin. It was an unspoken obsession that worked to destroy them as individuals, but one that they couldn’t escape.
The Silent Twins does a good job of trying to both bring you into June and Jennifer’s world with each other, full of light, music, and imagination, while also showing you that the rest of the world did not perceive it that way. They were stoic, never showing emotion or speaking words when other people were present. They ate their food at a snail’s pace and had to eat exactly the same amounts as the other. And they absolutely refused to participate in life when other people were around until they got older. At that point, they snuck out, met a boy, and got arrested for committing various crimes.
Based on the book, The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace, the film also shows various animations of the dolls that the girls created and plays music inspired by their diary entries and writings.
The film tries to stay loyal to the story, but the pacing feels off. There are times when you find yourself wholly engaged in what the twins are experiencing, and there are others where it feels more like empty space. The Silent Twins did not need to be as long as it was, and I wish there was more editing to tighten things up.
Overall, the story of June and Jennifer Gibbons is sad and fascinating, and I’m glad that it was put on film for the world to learn about. They lived a life together that may be referenced in future mental health cases. And as one had to learn to live without the other, it is also incredibly interesting to find out how the living twin continued on.
Runtime: 113 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Available: To rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
Long before I was theatre critic and movie reviewer, I worked in the mental health world. I was a case manager at a nursing home, and later the admissions coordinator at a hospital. I loved working with this population and their families, and I am still fascinated by mental health situations that are unlike others because I feel that it’s important to always keep learning. So when I read about this story, I definitely had to watch the film.
