Dead Ringers (1988)

★ 7.1 1h 55m 992 votes IMDb
Sign in to rate this film

Elliot, a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly. 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, but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.

Dead Ringers

Where to Watch

Netflix Netflix Watch
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video Watch
Disney Plus Disney Plus Watch
Max Max Watch
Hulu Hulu Watch
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus Watch
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus Watch
Peacock Peacock Watch
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll Watch
Tubi TV Tubi TV Free
Pluto TV Pluto TV Watch
Plex Plex Free

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV Rent
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Rent
Amazon Video Amazon Video Rent
YouTube YouTube Rent
Vudu Vudu Rent
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home Rent

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV Buy
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Buy
Amazon Video Amazon Video Buy
YouTube YouTube Buy
Vudu Vudu Buy
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home Buy

Cast

Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons as Beverly Mantle / Elliot Mantle Age 77 · Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, UK Jeremy John Irons (born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 an...
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold as Claire Niveau Age 83 · Montréal, Québec, Canada Geneviève Bujold (born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian stage and screen actress, best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Aw...
Heidi von Palleske
Heidi von Palleske as Cary Age 65 · Toronto, Canada Heidi von Palleske was born on November 9, 1959 in Toronto, Canada. She is an actress and writer, known for Dead Ringers (1988), The Boys Club (1996) and RED (2010)..
Barbara Gordon
Barbara Gordon as Danuta Barbara Gordon is a Canadian film, television and stage actress. She is most noted as a two-time Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress, receiving nods at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980 for Wil...
Shirley Douglas
Shirley Douglas as Laura Died 2020 · Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada Shirley Douglas, with a start in church drama and music, pursued acting seriously from a young age. After studies in London, she acted in British theatre and TV. Her marriage to Donald Sutherland bore...
Stephen Lack
Stephen Lack as Wolleck / Anders Wolleck Age 80 · Montreal, Quebec, Canada Stephen Lack (born 1946) is a Canadian painter and a film actor best known for his role as Cameron Vale in David Cronenberg's film Scanners..

Audience Reviews

John Chard 8.5/10 Sep 26, 2014
I've often thought that there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies.

Dead Ringers is directed by David Cronenberg who also co-adapts the screenplay with Norman Snider from the book "Twins" written by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland. It stars Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold. Music is by Howard Shore and cinematography by Peter Suschitzky.

Identical twin gynaecologists Beverly and Elliott Mantle (Irons) run a high end fertility clinic in the city. Both in tune with each in spite of being different personalities, their world starts to fold inwards when Beverly falls in love with drug dependent actress Claire Niveau (Bujold).

Inspired by the real life story of gynaecologist twins Cyril and Steve Marcus (who were both found dead from suicide brought about by drug addiction), Dead Ringers is an amalgamation of unsettling horror and icy cold playfulness; in other words a perfect canvas for auteur Cronenberg to paint some of his peccadilloes.

Cronenberg doesn't need to be gory, gimmicky or schlocky, he instead utilises the characters on the page to spin a clinical character study. Themes pulsing throughout involve individuality, identity, misogyny, narcissism, eroticism and addiction, all played out in the mystical world of surgery and in-human metaphysics. The tempo never rises above a steady heart beat, rumbling along ominously, until we enter the home straight and the director delivers a devastating yet deeply moving conclusion.

Backed by a stunning dual performance from Irons, and a ballsy one from Bujold, Dead Ringers is a film of genuine greatness and a piece of work that's alive with smart ideas. 8.5/10
talisencrw 9/10 Jul 12, 2016
Sheer brilliance. Deep down, EVERYONE has a love/hate thing about identical twins. On the one side, they wish they had that kind of communion with someone, that sort of magical intimacy they share, having someone basically the exact same as themselves...yet that same one-of-a-kind companionship is scary as hell.

I haven't seen, from my fellow Canadian, either 'Scanners' (1981) or 'Naked Lunch' (1991), so I can't honestly say whether or not my assertion can be thus extended, but I dare ANYONE to find in horror a finer run than Cronenberg had, in 'Videodrome', 'The Dead Zone', 'The Fly'...and this, 'Dead Ringers'.
tmdb47633491 4/10 Apr 07, 2018
David Cronenberg reveals himself to be a total pseud. "Our identities blur together. We are one soul." Give me a break

Similar Movies