In the Dead Ringers version of the Stewart brothers’ story, the twins’ downward spiral is triggered by the case of Claire, who challenges their senses in both the exam room and the bedroom, and plies pills from them to spice up their sex lives. This arrangement is put to the test when they meet actress Claire Niveau ( Geneviève Bujold) who they find possesses a “trifurcated cervix”, a medical anomaly that throws them into territory beyond the reach of their expertise. When Elliot tires of his sexual conquests, Bev picks up when his brother is done getting off. To this end, they frequently impersonate each other when it is convenient for them, particularly when it comes to courting the ladies. Elliot does not fail to remind his brother that Bev’s existence is nothing without him in it, stating, “You haven’t had any experience until I’ve had it too”. He plays the sly and confident Elliot opposite the meek and gentle Bev, who is resigned to work behind the scenes while Elliot receives the fanfare and adulation of their peers in the medical community. In his dual performance, Jeremy Irons does an astounding job at portraying these two conflicting personalities, down to the most minute mannerisms. Stewart thrived in the spotlight and was described in their high school yearbook as the twin who was “bound to win.” In the film, Cyril’s equivalent is Beverly, while Elliot is Marcus’s. Growing up, Cyril’s aspirations and accomplishments would usually come second to Stewart’s. The power dynamic between the brothers in Dead Ringers rings true to the competitive fire between the Marcus twins. There were no signs of a struggle, leading investigators to initially theorize that their deaths were either of accidental overdoses or an orchestrated suicide pact. Among the filth were also dozens of empty bottles of barbiturate. In July 1975, the bodies of both brothers were discovered in Cyril’s Manhattan apartment in slovenly conditions, surrounded by trash, soiled furniture, dirty dishes, and food scraps. They attempted to rehabilitate without assistance but to no avail. Their superiors urged them to get clean or resign. In Dead Ringers, the twins are also on the cutting edge of their field, operating their own practice and pioneering medical instruments that would become the industry standard in obstetrics.īy the 70s, Cyril and Stewart had become addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines, and their once prospering business floundered. They would also go on to become assistant professors of obstetrics and gynecology at New York Hospital, as well as co-directors at Cornell Hospital’s Infertility Clinic. We can see trouble laying in wait for these characters, who are incapable of acting as two sympathetic individuals and merely function as two sides of the same coin, their destinies perpetually entwined.īefore their untimely deaths, the Marcus twins were well-respected in their field, establishing their own successful private practice in the 60s and publishing their ground-breaking research in medical journals. From the film’s opening scenes, we are shown the Mantle twins in a rendering that keys up the real story: two identical boys, buttoned-up and bespectacled, walking side-by-side, waxing poetic on the sex lives of fish before harassing the girl next door to help them conduct an experiment. They also consistently wore formal workplace attire, wielding a superiority complex above their peers.
The brothers were not identical but still had an uncanny resemblance to one another, and they may as well have been attached at the hip, as they were always together. Similar to their portrayal in the movie, the Marcus twins led an insular life mainly fixated on their research, making them incapable of forming meaningful connections. This was not a far cry from the characterization of the brothers who inspired the film. Some would say they are close with their siblings, but the brothers at the center of Dead Ringers model a relationship that may be a little too close for comfort. The sinister circumstances of their deaths served up the perfect recipe for horror master Cronenberg and co-writer Norman Snider, who used their sordid story to effectively paint one of the most spine-tingling portraits of sibling rivalry on film to date. Little do some know, the Mantle brothers were based on real-life twins Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who were also accomplished women’s health professionals in New York City until their mysterious deaths in 1975, both aged 45. We follow the brothers as they pursue devilish fancies only to shatter the equilibrium that steadies their bond, sending them hurtling towards a shared deadly fate.
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