The Skeleton Twins

This indie drama by Craig Johnson (co-written by Mark Heyman) is not an easy film to watch. It starts off with Milo (one of the twins in question, played by Bill Hader) attempting to commit suicide while his twin sister Maggie (Kristen Wiig), who lives at the other end of the country, contemplates doing the same. Things don’t get a whole lot better from there, which makes this a fairly depressing, though by no means hopeless, film to watch.

The twins haven’t seen each other in ten years, but when Maggie (in New York) gets the message that Milo is in the hospital in Los Angeles, she immediately flies out to see him. Milo ends up flying back to New York with Maggie and temporarily moves into Maggie’s house, which Maggie shares with her ‘perfect’ husband, Lance (Luke Wilson). While there, Milo takes the opportunity to invite their mother to the house and to reconnect with a key figure from his teenage years and, well, the story gets darker, as it does when Maggie can’t control herself at the pool. Maggie and Milo have each other again, but will that help or hinder a depression that seems to originate in their childhood?

That’s enough of the plot. The acting of all involved is fantastic (especially Hader and Wiig). The intelligent story feels very real and is well-structured and well-told, with lots to think about. The music is used sparingly and well; the cinematography is great. If The Skeleton Twins had gone a little deeper, it might have warranted ****, but I’ll stay with a solid ***+. My mug is up.