I didn't understand the story to Dead Ringers (1988).

I just watched the movie and I am literally completely lost and was hoping someone could explain it to me.

SPOILER

First of all, one problem I had with the movie is that in the last third it was hard to tell which twin was which and the line was really blurred. I read a plot summary afterwards, but I am still lost.

Basically the one twin, Elliot, wants to help his brother, Bev, with his drug problem. So he decides to take the drugs as well so he can synchronize his bloodstream with Bev's (whatever that means in that context), and then he decides to kill himself, and have Bev do it. He says doing so will help them cause they will be 'seperated'.

Now what does this have to do with helping Bev with his drug problem, and saving the medical practice? How does Elliot dying, solve anything? And then after Bev kills Elliot, he decides to go to sleep, and then wakes up and then he starts calling out Elliot's name, looking for him, even though Elliot's dead body is right there in plain view.

He then calls Claire on the phone, but doesn't talk to her. He then hangs up the phone, goes back to the building where Elliot's dead body is, and then dies on top of him. What? How and why did Bev die all of a sudden. This whole thing made no sense to me. Unless I missed something?

Anyone?

I've never seen it, but after reading your post, think I'll skip this one!

I haven't seen it either, but I have heard how great Jeremy Irons is in it multiple times.

It's considered to be one of Canada's greatest films (my home country), but maybe it is because we don't make much.

I've seen it and liked it but honestly don't think I could answer your questions.

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Okay thanks, but since you've seen it and like it, you must be able to make some sense of the movie I am guessing?

Davied Cronenberg's films are great. Dead Ringers in particular. Bryan Fuller has an homage to one of the surgicl scenes in Hannibal. If anything can turn a woman off even more than a pap smear it's the gyno check up early in this movie. Hideous!

His son, Brandon's first film is called Antiviral which I thought was an amazing directorial debut. I'm hoping he keeps going with film.

Perhaps, but I don't remember it well enough to answer these particular questions. I'd have to watch it again and pay extra attention.

I just saw Bev's death as an overdose and a nod to science as art with the melding together of the two twins in that wax sculpture if I want to be a poncy wanker about it. More simply, a chronic case of separation anxiety. I think Pony looks for way too much to dissect rather than just enjoy movies as entertainment. Chill out a bit, Pony. It seems movies must exhaust you.

On the 19th July 1975, twin brothers Stewart and Cyril Marcus were found dead in their New York apartment. Emaciated and surrounded by detritus, the twins were later discovered to have suffered from severe barbiturate withdrawal - a shocking and sad end for a pair of respected gynaecologists with a once thriving practice.

or wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_and_Cyril_Marcus

Well I just didn't get why one twin had to kill the other to solve the problem. I'm trying to chill, but you say I'm looking too hard. Since I wasn't able to make sense of the movie, I thought I wasn't looking hard enough, and I missed something.

You're most welcome

I'd highly suggest NOT skipping it.

It's a GREAT movie!

Well I still don't understand the movie. I want to, and it's not like I am trying to look for holes or anything, but I feel that the characters make decisions that are hugely nonsensical. And to say it's because of a chronic case of seperation anxiety, doesn't really explain anything much, as it's too much of an in the nutshell explanation, to an incredibly out of the nutshell plot.

I read synopses of the entire plot online to try find an explanation but they only explain the who, what, where, etc. and the not why, which is the most important part. If you are going to have a character act crazy and have all these crazy things happen, there has to be a why somewhere, and I want to know what it is, but no one seems to really know.

As far as I know, here is what happens in the movie:

SPOILERS

--twins like to share the same woman
--woman has a deformation in her vagina, preventing her from having kids.
-- twin 1 falls for the woman and becomes obsessed, with her
-- twin 1 turns to drugs and this causes him to become paranoid at the idea of deformed vaginas
-- twin 1 has makes surgical instruments to deal with deformed vaginas and gets into a lot of trouble as a result
-- twin 2 kills twin 1 to help him with his problems
-- twin 2 then mysteriously dies in the arms of twin 1 with no explanation

So I can't help but look at this plot and think whaaat????????????????

I just don't get it at all, or what this movie was really about. Falling for a woman and then turning to drugs, does not cause this to happen to people, and there has to be more of an explanation than separation anxiety or whatever the real reason is.

I watched it years ago, as it was a highly regarded film. Couldn't figure out what was going on.

Took me awhile to take Jeremy Irons seriously again.

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"Bowels in, or bowels out?"

It’s meant to be surreal, not realistic.

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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

Everything is a biopic these days, dontcha know.