The Twin (2024) Movie Review - Generic Middle of The Road Horror

Welcome to Knockout Horror. If you are new here, we review horror movies, explain horror movie endings, and put out horror movie ranking lists. All done without the pretention that seems to be so prevalent in the reviewer community. I write like we are just two people chatting together about horror films. Today we are checking out The Twin.

This movie follows a grieving dad who, after his son passes away, begins experiencing visions of a person who looks identical to himself. This twin, or Fetch as per Irish folklore, doesn’t seem to have the best of intentions for him. Prompting him to begin a fight to regain both his mind and his identity.

I’ve just got done explaining the ending to this one. If you need some stuff clearing up, why not check out our The Twin Ending Explained article? Keep in mind that, unlike this review, our ending explained articles do contain spoilers.

An Idea That’s Not Exactly Original

The Twin hit the festival circuit in 2024 but only just made it to Shudder back in July. I have to be honest, I wasn’t overly excited for this movie. I’ve said numerous times that I am a little bit jaded with the whole “trauma monster” thing. Just reading the summary of this movie makes it very clear what you are in for. You see the word “grieving” and you are immediately bombarded with visions of The Babadook and its legions of cheap rip-offs.

It didn’t help that I was seriously tired while watching this movie. I suppose that’s not a fair way to judge something that a filmmaking team has put their heart and soul into but it is what it is. Fighting off sleep while trying to follow the rather milquetoast plot is not exactly the ideal film critiquing model. With that being said, The Twin plays out almost exactly as you might expect. Our protagonist, Nicholas (Logan Donovan) witnesses his young son’s death. This sends him into a trauma spiral that results in him attempting to end his own life.

When he finally gets out of the hospital, his wife confines him to his grandma’s old house to work on his recovery. The only problem is that this house was the site of some harrowing experiences back when Nicholas was a child. As Nicholas begins to see visions of himself, he is forced to enlist the help of a psychiatrist/hypnotist (played by Halloween Kills’ Robert Longstreet) to fight back against the evil that is threatening to take over his life.

Let’s Be Honest, It’s Formulaic Horror Stuff

For the most part, The Twin feels like a pretty big budget production. Cinematography is decent, the cast is padded with experienced actors, and the crew are pretty well established. I don’t know how off-base it would be of me to call it a Hollywood Horror but it certainly plays out like something designed to appeal to the masses.

That is really reflected in the horror element of this film. The scares are extremely middle of the road. In fact, I almost got the sense with The Twin that director J.C. Doler was borrowing liberally from the extremely dusty book of early to mid-2000s horror tricks. Characters twitching spasmodically, sudden screaming at the viewer, over the top makeup, white contact lenses, jump scares; it’s all here and it’s all completely unoriginal!

I don’t think The Twin had a single idea of its own or a single new thing to add to the horror genre. Sure, it is all stuff that will probably work fairly well on your average non-horror fan. But horror veterans are going to end up suffering from vertigo with all the eye rolling they will be doing. A few scenes made me chuckle with how silly they were, as well, which is never a good thing with a horror movie. The horror stuff comes on very late in the game, as well, which leads me onto my next point.

The Twin is More of a Psychological Drama

This really is, at its core, a story about the grieving process and the effects of familial trauma. Nicholas had already suffered from a pretty crappy childhood before having to watch his son cartwheel into an early grave. This, obviously, had a horrifying impact on him and left him mentally scarred.

The entire movie acts as something of an analogue for that aforementioned grieving process and the impact of CPTSD. It’s the whole “confronting grief, forgiving yourself, moving on but not forgetting” thing. With that in mind, the horror takes a real back seat to some over the top melodrama.

This might sound, at least, somewhat appealing. After all, a lot of horror movies manage to work with this theme tremendously well. The Twin, however, suffers from some laborious pacing that makes it feel like a real chore. The middle part of the movie is consistently punctuated by Nicholas moping around the grim looking house and doing very little of anything.

This is one of those movies that is both top and bottom heavy. The drama that sets up the story is all weighted in the first few minutes and the horror all takes place in the last ten. The rest of the film is simply sitting around waiting for it to do something… anything. This only adds to that impossible to ignore sense that this is an overwhelmingly generic and forgettable horror movie.

Worth Mentioning

Acting is pretty mixed. Robert Longstreet is giving it his all as the psychiatrist Dr. Beaumont. He has some really strong moments and feels very natural. I honestly didn’t think too much of Logan Donovan’s performance as Nicholas. I didn’t feel like he was all that believable in the role and he came across as simply a bit uninterested rather than genuinely mentally unwell. It never felt as though this was a deliberate attempt to portray grief through a lesser seen lens, either.

The script is pretty awful. This is such a huge problem in American horror. There is a serious lack of decent screenwriters and ridiculous, almost robotic, dialogue is becoming the accepted norm. Direction wise, this is a great looking movie with some pretty decent shots.

There are quite a few continuity issues here and there. Pacing is a big problem, as well. The Twin is far too long and would have seriously benefitted from being twenty minutes shorter in length. The middle part of the film is ruthlessly padded and, frankly, the timeline can feel extremely messy as a consequence.

Should You Watch The Twin?

The Twin isn’t exactly bad. It’s just so damn generic and milquetoast. The horror elements are really lacking and what is there is very unoriginal and derivative. The grief themed story is nothing new and could have been ripped right out of a television movie. With that being said, there is a market for this type of middle of the road horror. Non-horror fans will probably find plenty to enjoy. Horror vets, on the other hand, will probably be left wanting.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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