park City, UT – January 20, 2024 – James Sweeney’s latest film, Twinless, premiered tonight at the Eccles Theater during the Sundance Film Festival, offering a darkly comedic and emotionally resonant exploration of grief, loneliness, and the search for human connection. The film marks a notable step in Sweeney’s directorial evolution following his 2019 debut feature, Straight Up.
Twinless centers on a man grappling with profound loss, portrayed with a haunting performance by Sweeney himself. Dylan O’Brien delivers a standout, nuanced performance playing a set of identical twins, while Lauren Graham, Chris Perfetti, Tasha Smith, and Aisling Franciosi round out the ensemble cast.
Sweeney described his initial reaction to the venue, jokingly recounting, ”I am happy to be here on opening night at the Eccles Theatre. When I first heard we were at the Eccles Theatre, I googled it and I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s so big!'” He later realized he was initially thinking of the larger eccles Theatre in Salt Lake City, noting this venue has approximately 1200 seats and acknowledging his own limitations in spatial reasoning.
The director expressed his long-standing admiration for O’Brien, revealing he had seen all of The Maze Runner films in theaters and was impressed by the actor’s range. “I thoght this would be a different role for him,” Sweeney said, adding that O’Brien quickly demonstrated ownership of the character’s emotional complexities. “I felt like he saw my voice,and he felt so confident in it,and I trusted that.”
sweeney confessed to initial hesitation about approaching Lauren Graham for a role, due to references to Gilmore Girls in his previous film. “I didn’t want her to think I was a psycho,” he admitted, ultimately calling it “such an honor and privilege to watch her work.” Graham reciprocated the praise, stating, “You can tell in[[[[Twinless]he’s just so thoughtful and bright. There is so much kindness in his work that it allows for the quirks of his character and of the story and of the darkness, and I just love that. I was so fascinated when I read it, and it still is.”
