Featuring an Oscar-worthy performance from SNL favourite Bill Hader, Craig Johnson’s dramedy isn’t exceptional because of its subject matter. A story about estranged twins reunited after struggles with depression, this Duplass Brothers production hits the usual indie drama notes. There are flashbacks to childhood. There is a recurring drowning metaphor. There’s a narcotics-induced secret sharing session. There’s even a lip-syncing duet to a classic ‘80s tune.
What elevates The Skeleton Twins into an extraordinarily endearing, emotionally honest film is the stunning realism that burns through every moment, every interaction, every cliché. Hader is simply sublime as Milo, a gay waiter who is terrified that he may have peaked in high-school. His hilariously biting wit barely conceals the raw pain lingering underneath. As he self-destructs by attempting suicide, drinking heavily and rekindling abusive relationships, there are so many glimpses of the wounded boy in him; a broken child scrambling for love and validation in all the wrong places.
Kristen Wiig is also fantastic as Maggie, a woman who has all the trappings of a perfect life: a decent job, a beautiful home, a goofy but loving husband (Luke Wilson, pitch perfect as the jock with a heart of gold.) With nothing external to rage against, she silently wages war against herself instead. Only when Milo bursts into her life does she begin to confront the emptiness inside.
Wiig and Hader’s chemistry is impeccable. Alternately easy, tension-fuelled, hilarious and heart-breaking, the twins’ pain is linked, but they also find laughter and hope in each other. They push each others’ heads under water, but are always there to be a life raft when everyone else is gone. It’s a tale of siblings that’s authentic, beautiful and true.