Dead Ringers

Mantle Piece

Dead Ringers
April 2023
6 episodes

I’ve quite liked the majority of David Cronenberg’s movies over the years so I’m always hesitant to watch when I hear a remake or reboot is being attempted, especially his thriller Dead Ringers which I remember making a big impression on me when I saw it on its release in cinemas in the 1980s. That being said, I really enjoyed the remake of Rabid by the Soska Sisters (reviewed here) and I’ve really like Rachel Weisz in the few things I’ve seen her in so, I thought I’d dip my toes into this one.

I was not disappointed at all although, now that I’ve finally finished watching the show, I kind of have my reservations about the last two episodes, it would be true to say. The idea of having Rachel Weisz play the Mantle twins as Jeremy Irons had done in the original movie seemed like a good idea although, I was a bit puzzled that they have both kept the same first names from that one... Beverly and Elliot. The show is said to be based on the 1988 Cronenberg movie and the novel which was ransacked for that... Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland (itself the fictionalised account of two twin gynaecologist brothers who died in real life under mysterious circumstances). I can’t speak for the novel because I haven’t read it but this new ‘adaptation’, I would say, is more ‘inspired’ by the twin sources more than anything else. If you’re expecting an updated body trauma in the spirit of David Cronenberg then, yeah, you won’t find that here...

Instead, what we have is a TV show which is equally enthusiastic about the idea of obsession while following the fortune of the brilliant Mantle twins as they set up a new birthing facility, to try to humanise the process. And it’s impressive right from the opening minutes, I have to say. I was hooked by one of many intense dialogue sequences which opened the first episode (and which has kind of a sequel sequence in the final episode). The show proceeds in a relatively linear fashion with various tricks and sub-plots thrown in which, it has to be said, obscure the narrative somewhat but are obviously included to build a sense of mystery... which works until the final, somewhat obvious, I would say, denouement.

Okay... the good stuff. Rachel Weisz is absolutely brilliant. I’ve always liked her but her performances here are beyond next level. I was frankly astonished that she manages to pull off something which is even more accomplished, perhaps, than Jeremy Irons’ performance in the Cronenberg version (to which there are some references but, like I said, they’re not really ‘doing Cronenberg’ here). And in fact, all the cast in this thing are pretty good, including  Beverly’s love interest played by Britne Oldford as Genevieve Cotard, who really knocks it out the park. She’s presumably named after Geneviève Bujold, the actress who played the equivalent role in the Cronenberg original. Her character also provides one of the show’s best referential jokes in that she’s the star of a fictional TV show based on Cronenberg’s Rabid, as seen on a poster in one shot.

And, it’s all very good and trundles along nicely for the first four episodes although, there do seem to be some narrative gaps which obscure a definitive decoding of the plot but, as I said, I do think that’s deliberate to make things more interesting. For instance, jumps in time between episodes with new characters constantly cropping up in the lives of the Mantles and the ‘group analysis’ sessions for one of the twins being deliberately obstructive to chronological interpretation until the mid-credits sequence... so the last episode does seem somehow clumsy, in some ways. These things do, though, help create a desire to unravel the plot and stay tuned for the audience, I would guess. Add to this a mysterious and over-the-top zany housekeeper with an equally disappointing pay off and I did, I have to say, find myself somewhat disappointed during the fifth and sixth episodes.

That being said, the quality of the writing and the ‘knocking it out the park’ brilliant performances from everyone is absolutely addictive and I found it essential watching once I’d seen the opening hook. I’m not sure where the heck the part of the story, with no real pay off in terms of what Elliot is doing in her lab, really helped the show much either but, I guess it gave that character more to do.

At the end of the day, I think the writers could have just changed the names of the main characters and nobody would know it’s a reboot of the Cronenberg at all. It’s a completely original thing and that thing doesn’t really have to associate itself with its source material at all, to be honest. But, despite my reservations that the show really doesn’t land a good or surprising ending, I am certainly going to be recommending Dead Ringers to all my friends who watch modern TV shows (or whatever we are supposed to call these streaming things now). A good piece of fiction which, I think, could have easily sustained a second season if it didn’t have the ending which it’s been given. Definitely worth checking out though... the dialogue writing is absolutely brilliant and, when you have someone like Weisz delivering it, you’re probably always going to have a winner. Oh... and modern era Doctor Who fans might like to give it a go too as the score is by none other than Murray Gold. Hope this one gets a CD release at some point.