‘Dead Ringers’ series review: Rachel Weisz offers two compelling reasons to watch this medico-legal thriller

Rachel Weisz, playing twin gynaecologists, offers two compelling reasons to watch ‘Dead Ringers,’ a remake of the creepy David Cronenberg film

Though Dead Ringers is gorgeous and creepy, the true story it is inspired by is even more sinister. David Cronenberg’s 1988 film, that the mini-series is based on, takes inspiration from Bari Wood and Jack Geasland’s novel, Twins, a fictionalized account of the lives of twin gynaecologists, Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 45 in July 1975.

In David Cronenberg’s feature, Jeremy Irons (again after Damage, which became the cringe-worthy Obsession) plays the twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Rachel Weisz plays the twins in the series — the gender-neutral names make the flip easier and more confusing.

Elliot is the more outgoing twin. When we first see the two, her takedown of a slimy guy is savage. Beverly, on the other hand, is more timid and sensitive. She delivers the babies while Elliot is concerned with cutting-edge research, without much respect for the ethics of her actions, much to the dismay of Tom (Michael Chernus), her co-worker in more ways than one. Elliot has a cocaine habit and Beverly is desperate for a baby though every IVF attempt has turned out to be heartbreaking disappointments.

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The twins’ desire to be whole, implying there is an incompleteness to them is indicated in Beverly’s poignant comment to Elliot: “You always were a better me.” Elliot’s ravenous hunger for life is revealed in her constant eating and foreshadows Beverly realization of the need to subsume herself.

The twins want to revolutionise the way women give birth, as well as how it is perceived. As Beverly repeatedly says, “pregnancy is not a disease”. Rebecca Parker (Jennifer Ehle) with her generational wealth and privilege, as well as her profiteering from the opioid crisis, hardly makes her an altruistic investor, but if she is convinced the twins could make her more money, she could make their dream birth centre a reality.

Into this hectic environment comes actor Genevieve (Britne Oldford). She walks in for a consultation and Beverly falls deeply in love with her. Though Elliot first seduces Genevieve for Beverly, realizing how serious the relationship is, causes Elliot to spiral out of control.