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Dead Ringers

Play trailer Poster for Dead Ringers R 1988 1h 55m Horror Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Elliot (Jeremy Irons), a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly (also Irons). Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire (Geneviève Bujold), but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.
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Dead Ringers

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Critics Consensus

Dead Ringers serves up a double dose of Jeremy Irons in service of a devilishly unsettling concept and commandingly creepy work from director David Cronenberg.

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety Sep 24, 2007
Director David Cronenberg handles his usual fondness for gore in muted style. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Sep 24, 2007
People like myself who find the character played by [Genevieve] Bujold (in one of her best performances) more interesting than either of the twins are bound to feel rather frustrated by the end. Go to Full Review
Nigel Floyd Time Out Jan 26, 2006
An intense psychological drama which confronts [Cronenberg's] familiar preoccupations -- fear of physical and mental disintegration, mortality, the power struggle between the sexes -- without the paradoxical protection of visceral disgust. Go to Full Review
Josh Mooney Movieline Sep 16, 2025
David Cronenberg's study in psychological terror is, surprisingly, near-bloodless, and at once disturbing and fascinating. Go to Full Review
Joe Botten Loud and Clear Reviews Jun 30, 2025
3/5
A harrowing two-hour spiral into psychosexual decay, medical detachment, and the emotional rot of codependency. Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Apr 26, 2025
[David] Cronenberg created a startling film where the horror lies in the psyche: the conjoined relationship between two brothers, who share everything as if they were two parts of a whole, which pulls them both down in a spiral of madness. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cohil P @cohil 2 days ago Abysmal! Cronenberg choose Jerymy Irons (Room With A View) to ignite his nightmarish ride through the minds of gynecologist twins. Never heard of such a story before - so it looks very fresh to me. Iron fits very well in his double role because nobody anicipates such dark parts in his play. Anyway - everything has to be considered with a wink cause this director has a special kind of humor. Not his most spectacular work but it goes deep to the belly ... where we all come from ; ) See more Robert P @Superbad 3 days ago Dead Rings = a 4.5 star Movie! See more Bucky R @Bucky3085 May 4, 2026 Irons is amazing in this movie, but the story feels flat considering the long runtime. See more Pete P @scpete Feb 7, 2026 Dead Ringers slithers under your skin like cold surgical steel kissed with perfume. Jeremy Irons, in a performance that feels like two separate souls sharing one bloodstream, plays the Mantle twins—identical, inseparable, and rotting from the inside with a shared hunger that’s equal parts clinical and carnal. The film is a slow hemorrhage of crimson silk and stainless steel: gynecological instruments redesigned for nightmare anatomies, hotel suites that smell faintly of antiseptic and expensive cologne, and the kind of sex that leaves bruises shaped like questions. Cronenberg photographs desire as a medical emergency and medicine as foreplay, every frame polished to a sickening gloss yet soaked in the sour musk of obsession. By the end you can almost taste the copper in the air, feel the latex snap against wrist, and hear the soft, wet click of twin hearts finally deciding they’ve had enough of beating in unison. A masterpiece of elegant depravity. See more Jack F @MovieFan111 Nov 18, 2025 Cool concept with a good actor for the roll. See more Jerod S @jeroduptown Sep 21, 2025 Never thought there was creepy possibilities with twins until now - but these 2 gynecologists are whack. They share more than patients and end up dying together. See more Read all reviews
Dead Ringers

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Movie Info

Synopsis Elliot (Jeremy Irons), a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly (also Irons). Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire (Geneviève Bujold), but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.
Director
David Cronenberg
Producer
David Cronenberg, Marc Boyman
Screenwriter
Norman Snider, David Cronenberg
Distributor
20th Century Fox, Media Home Entertainment, Criterion Collection, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Morgan Creek Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Horror, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 22, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$8.3M
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Surround
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