Retrospective Film Review

Dead Ringers (1988) • 35 Years Later —psychological gem of twin terror

Twin gynaecologists take advantage of the fact nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman…

David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers is a strange tale, but it’s even stranger when you realize it’s based on the true story of identical twin gynaecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who were found dead in Cyril’s Manhattan apartment in July 1975, at the age of 45. The cause of their untimely deaths remains uncertain.

Stewart is believed to have died between 10–14 July, but Cyril was seen walking about in the city after then, so he’s suspected to have died between 14–17 July. Although their addiction to barbiturates is considered to be the main factor in their deaths, rumours of mental illness have led to theories of a suicide pact. Whatever happened in the final days of their lives, their deaths were incredibly peculiar.

Cronenberg, who had just finished directing the Kafkaesque nightmare The Fly (1986), was drawn to the…