It seems that every year, one or two independent films successfully make the jump from film festivals and art house theaters to the multiplexes. This year, that movie is writer and director Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins. Starring Saturday Night Live alums Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as estranged twins that come together after a botched suicide attempt, The Skeleton Twins provides audiences with a sometimes heartbreaking, but ultimately life-affirming look at the meanings of family and friendship.
In New York, Milo realizes his sister has settled in life – married to a guy she has nothing in common with and routinely cheats on. Things get even more complicated when Milo runs into an old flame. As a high school student, Milo had a relationship with one of his teachers named Rich (Modern Family‘s Ty Burrell). While technically statutory rape, Milo still has feelings for his old teacher and acts on them, and becomes furious when he finds out Rich has a child and uses Milo to get a script to Hollywood.
Even through all the depressing things that happen to the twins throughout the movie, their lives seem to get better the more they repair their own relationships. You begin to cheer for the two siblings as they look to repair their lives. And of course, given the fact that the twins are portrayed by Hader and Wiig, it’s understandable to expect plenty of humorous and heart-warming moments during their journey to happiness. The interplay between the two feels natural – like they could be related in real life.
While it touches on mostly depressing topics like suicide, estrangement, infidelity, and molestation, there’s a quirky and uplifting charm to The Skeleton Twins brought about mostly by the two twins themselves. All in all, The Skeleton Twins is a great movie from start to finish that acts as a wonderful ambassador for what the world of independent cinema has to offer.
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