This week sees the release of Sinners, in which Michael B. Jordan plays twins. With that in mind, we got together to write about some of our other favorite movie twins! Let us know your favorite @SiftPop!
Watching twins come together working toward a common goal is great and all (take a bow, Lindsey Lohan), but pitting them against each other is so much more fun. It reaches even greater heights when they are diametrically opposed foes, with one being the world’s greatest super spy and the other a super villain threatening the entire planet. Mike Meyers excels in both roles throughout the Austin Powers series. While the twin reveal doesn’t come until Austin Powers: Goldmember, the third film, it works retroactively throughout on a rewatch. Meyers especially excels in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery as both the titular Austin Powers and his foe Dr. Evil. The franchise perfectly parodies James Bond and Blofeld, while adding the hilarious commonality of being fish out of water as cryogenic freezing takes them from the ‘60s to the ‘90s. It’s a delightful bonus adding Mini-Me into the mix in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, when Dr. Evil gets a clone said to be one-eighth his size, though he’s more like one-third his size. There is little to no deep exploration into the dynamic of being twins, but there is a lot of simple spoof comedy in which to delight. (Jason Mack)
One of the underseen gems of 2024, Goodrich sees a man (Michael Keaton) forced to play Mr. Mom to his young kids (Vivien Lyra Blair, Jacob Kopera) when his wife (Laura Benanti) enters a rehab program. Through that experience, he reconnects with his older daughter (Mila Kunis), who’s about to give birth to a child of her own. While Keaton and Kunis are the leads, the film oozes heart, and our twins are no small part of that, at times seeming wise beyond their years, at others allowing their young age to shine through. As a twin myself, I am obligated to do the Leo point whenever twins show up on screen, but our young duo put in quite the lovable performance. Blair seems set on creating a career out of playing twins, and based on early results, I wouldn’t mind it. (Jake Bourgeois)
Whether you started with the books or the movies, you probably likely regard Fred and George Weasley (James and Oliver Phelps) as some of the more memorable side characters in the Harry Potter series. The Weasley twins provide great comic relief throughout the series with their practical jokes and hijinks, bringing light even in some of the story’s darker moments. However, they’re aren’t just there for laughs, as their indignant defiance of order, and firm insistence to forge their own path instead of conforming to what society wants them to be, provides a lot of inspirational moments. As a kid, I always looked up Fred and George and their unique method of resistance, best highlighted in their escape sequence in The Order of the Phoenix. As the cruel, authoritarian Grand Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge oversees exams, the two flee the school on broomsticks, while setting off fireworks throughout the castle as students and faculty alike cheer them on. Throw in “Fireworks,” one of my favorite pieces of score in the entire franchise, and you’ve got one of my favorite scenes in the series that perfectly highlights two of its most interesting characters. (Jake Hjort)
Some sets of twins were just born to be bad, and none do it better than Devon (Nate Wonder) and Rex (Roman GianArthur) in the 2019 live action remake of Lady and the Tramp. Working in unison to utterly destroy antiques, accessories and upholstery, the twin terrors make short work of the formal family room in what looks to be a demolition ballet orchestrated without the need to say a word to each other. Their synchronized scratching, tandem tearing, and cloned clawing are exactly why cats don’t make good house guests. But what secures their spot on the list of best movie twins is the diabolical disregard they have for their destructive ways, and the ease with which they cast the guilt on poor innocent Lady (Tessa Thompson). They even go so far as to feign injury just in time for Lady to take the blame in what in their own words is, “Too bad, what a shame.” (Patrice Downing)
In The Parent Trap, Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) and Annie’s (Lindsay Lohan) parents went separate ways when they were still babies, each taking one of them with them. Hallie grew up in California, and Annie grew up in London, but then they met at summer camp. Lohan plays impressive duo roles — despite being twins, these sisters have very different personalities, and don’t even have the same accent. At first, they clearly dislike one another and pull a few pranks, and at one point, Annie calls Hallie the “most awful creature to ever walk the planet!”But later, when they find themselves alone together, they start to bond and ultimately work out they are sisters. The scene when they figure out the truth is lovely, as they both say, “Oh, my god!” and hug. Hallie comes up with the idea that they switch places when they go home, meaning Annie has to cut her hair shorter and have her ears pierced by Hallie, the latter of which is quite a horrific scene. After each meets the respective parent they haven’t seen since they were a baby, the twins devise an elaborate scheme to get their mom and dad back together. Part of this plan is another impressive duo performance by Lohan. The sisters switch back and forth between accents and don’t say which one they are, so the parents don’t know who to take with them. In the end, they convince them to stay together. To quote Hallie, they actually did it! (John Tillyard)
“Are you watching closely?” Christopher Nolan has made some great movies, but one that which is not talked about enough is The Prestige. The film follows two magicians, Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Borden (Christian Bale), who try to one-up each other in Victorian London. Borden invents “The Transported Man,” and Angier becomes obsessed with figuring out how he does it. That’s the pledge. Now, the trick is important to the movie, because it has Borden walking through a door at one end of the stage, and instantly coming out at the other end. That’s the turn — how does he do it? Well, for the theme this week, we are talking about twins. There are two Bordens in this movie. Bale plays them both, and he does a phenomenal job (to think he did this between his first two Batman films). Nolan movies are famous for requiring multiple viewings, and this one’s no different. Once you know the prestige of the movie, it’s fun to go back and catch all the references. If you have seen it, did you watch closely enough to see every time Nolan hints at the reveal? (Austen Terry)
Two years after being introduced to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, children of the 80’s were in for shock while watching 1985’s The Secret of the Sword, finding out that Prince Adam (John Erwin) has a twin sister. Like a storyline out of a soap opera, Princess Adora (Melendy Britt) had been abducted as a baby by enemies to the throne of Eternia, and whisked away to the far off world of Etheria, where she was raised in service to the Hoard. Unaware of her royal roots or twin sibling, she is a high-ranking officer of the rebel force, when her brother Adam finds her and helps her discover the power of castle GreySkull lies within her sword transforming her into She-Ra, The Princess of Power. Together they are the most powerful twins in the universe. Sadly, their reunion is short-lived, as Adora sees the need to stay and lead in the fight to defeat Hordak (George DiCenzo) and free the people of Etheria from the tyranny of his band of mischievous minions, much like her brother does defending the citizens of Eternia. Though they live worlds apart, their connection to each other remains strong thanks to their bonds to the power and honor of GreySkull. (Patrice Downing)
What is the most terrifying entity of all horror films? You might be surprised that monsters, vampires, werewolves, demons, ghosts, and such are not the answer. Clowns and dolls are close! But the real answer is… children. For some unholy reason, little kids can be so darn creepy! Twins are even worse. The most terrifying pair of twins in cinematic history must be the Grady twins from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Just young Danny Torrence riding his tricycle around this empty hotel and he turns the corner… BAM! Creepy little girls. They speak synchronously. Scary. They projected images of their mutilated corpses. Scary. Just being two random twin girls in a random hallway in an empty hotel…. scary. All they have to say is, “Come play with us, Danny” and your bones are rattling, and your skin is crawling. This is just the start of the creepy, supernatural nonsense of the Overlook Hotel. What makes this film so great at scaring is that the twins are just one of many effective scares. (Shane Conto)
It’s certainly no secret that Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig make magic together. We saw plenty of them together as cast members on Saturday Night Live to make that abundantly clear. As they set off on their post-SNL career paths, they teamed up for a Sundance drama Skeleton Twins, where they play a pair of estranged twins who reconnect with each other to address traumas of the past. These two are the true heart of the film, showing they have more in their arsenal than just their purely comedic chops as they work to repair the tight-knit relationship they once had. Though the film can be heavy, they do get to let loose in an epic lip-syncing sequence set to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” (Jake Bourgeois)
Sure, putting Luke and Leia on this list might be considered about as much of a cheat as it was a cheat to make them twins in the first place. We all remember the twist of Vader announcing himself as Luke’s father, but Return of the Jedi coming out and saying that actually, Luke is also related to the Princess he’d rescued from the Dark Lord of the Sith, hasn’t had that same staying power in our minds. We remember them mostly separately, and if their being siblings comes up at all, it’s usually to say how odd it was that they kissed in The Empire Strikes Back. It’s not until the much-maligned sequel trilogy that they’re actually written with their familial relationship in mind. But no matter which way you slice it, it’s quite difficult to think of more iconic characters than Luke and Leia among those who qualify as twins. Perhaps the fact they’re not necessarily thought of as a duo works in their favor in this way. Both great characters with their own baggage, their own on-screen lives, and their own place in the cultural lexicon. And also twins. You can do a lot worse than Star Wars’ central Skywalker family as something to point to that represents this type of sibling bond. (Chris Bakker)
In a lab experiment best described as “What if Frankenstein’s monster had a garage sale?”, eccentric scientists combine DNA from six Nobel Prize winners, a spinach enthusiast, and a disco dancer to create the “perfect” human. Instead, they get Julius (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a 6’2” mountain of muscle with the charm of a golden retriever and the street smarts of a loaf of bread. Oh, and a surprise bonus: Vincent (Danny DeVito), a 5’0” ball of sleaze who got all the “leftover” genes — think tax evasion instincts, a five-o’clock shadow, and a moral compass that points firmly to “yikes.” Separated at birth, Julius grows up on a tropical island learning yoga and calligraphy, while Vincent hustles his way through life selling counterfeit parking passes and questionable life choices. Fast-forward 35 years: Julius, armed with a fanny pack and childlike wonder, tracks down his long-lost brother in Los Angeles. Vincent, horrified by Julius’s optimism (and biceps), is dragged into a quest to find their “mother” — a journey involving a stolen convertible, a gangster named Beetroot, and a lot of explaining why Julius shouldn’t pet strangers’ attack dogs. Cue the buddy-comedy madness. Together, the brothers uncover their origins, accidentally crash a biker wedding, and discover their “mom” is a test tube labeled “Oops.” But wait! There’s a twist involving a shady corporation, a briefcase of cash, and a scientist who definitely should’ve double-checked the lab’s return policy. The duo learns that family isn’t about DNA — it’s about who’ll help you hide a body (metaphorically, of course… unless). (Adam Ritchie)