For several decades, the story of June and Jennifer Gibbons has been the subject of a lot of conversation, with their mysterious lives being the source of an enormous amount of analysis as behavioural psychologists, linguists and a range of other investigators tried to determine the root of their condition that caused them to go through life almost entirely silent, only communicating with one another in what is one of the most highly-publicized examples of the peculiar bond that exists between siblings. However, their sad lives have not been done justice, since they have taken the form of psychological novelties, a pair of twins whose condition piqued the interests of many people to the point where they are remembered almost entirely by the one-line description that followed them throughout their lives. As is often the case with such situations, they have been so overtly discussed, it has gone beyond the point of being dehumanizing, especially since they’re mostly viewed as curious more than they were people. Mercifully, there was some tenderness towards their story shown in turning their life into a film, which came in the form of The Silent Twins, which is one of the most shattering films of the past year, and the exact approach needed to bring their story to a broader audience without filtering it through the lens of inciting the same fascination with their lives as the old-fashioned freak shows that were so popular in the past. Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, who was working from a script written by Andrea Seigel, The Silent Twins is an astonishing film, a quiet and meditative glimpse into the childhood and early adult lives of the Gibbons twins, shedding light on the circumstances that made them such prominent figures in the world of psychology, while also offering one of the most compassionate explorations of the human condition we’ve seen in quite some time, and a film that provokes without being insensitive, peeling back the layers that have obscured the lives of the subjects, finally allowing their story to be given the tender attention it has always warranted.

Finding the right tonal approach for the story of June and Jennifer Gibbons would be a challenge for even the greatest cinematic voices, since we don’t know much about their lives, nor do we have much information about their psychological condition – and this is made even more difficult considering that Seigel’s script is clearly not interested in speculating about what caused their unique approach to communication, nor does it necessarily want to investigate it. Logically, we’d assume their lives would lends themselves to a more gritty, social realist tale that evokes the works of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach in providing a striking, earnest account of their daily trials and tribulations – and while this would not have been a bad approach (especially since this style is very much focused on the facts more than sensationalism), it doesn’t quite fit in with how their story was adapted in this film. Smoczyńska is known for her very unique form of abstraction, her previous films being remarkable for how they managed to blur factual stories with a kind of enchanting surrealism, being the perfect amalgamation of reality and fiction, which is precisely what this story required. This is quite an unorthodox approach for a biographical film, but when dealing with a subject as complex as the Gibbons Twins, it made sense to attempt to tell their story in a way that highlighted their own lives, very little of which we actually know, which lends itself to the more abstract view that the director takes with this material. The film plays like a Peter Greenaway production, with vibrant colours, emphasis on the visual symmetry, and an off-kilter tone, all being integral to the development of the story, which is done with precision and complexity, rather than just being surreal for the sake of offering a new perspective, very little of which is actually all that compelling in the first place when it lacks depth, which is the complete antithesis of what works in this film.

At the heart of The Silent Twins are two revelatory performances by a pair of young actors that represent the future of the industry. Tamara Lawrence and Leticia Wright may have carved out a very particular niche as some of the most gifted performers working today (the latter having already achieved a considerable level of fame as a result of some mainstream work), but they still feel like they’re only at the start of their illustrious careers, doing impeccable work that feels complex, enticing and compelling, while showcasing their enormous gifts as actors. The titular roles in The Silent Twins are quite challenging, since they require actors who are capable of developing the characters on multiple different levels – on one side, we have two young women who are inflicted by a psychological condition that keeps them at a distance from the rest of the world, while the other demonstrates their internal lives, which are joyful and filled with humour, just being hidden from the rest of the world as these twins venture into their own alternate reality, which is where the film is most compelling. These are very impactful performances that are drawn from a place of deep introspection, and both Wright and Lawrence commit entirely to these roles, disappearing into the parts with a dedication we rarely find in a contemporary context. It’s a beautiful set of performances that feel both quiet and exuberant, depending on how a particular scene is framed – and from beginning to end, these actors are finding new and exciting ways to develop the roles into meaningful, earnest portrayals of these characters, taking them beyond mere novelties of sensationalist psychology, and showing that beneath the tabloid gossip and textbook case studies were a pair of exceptionally gifted young women whose lives may have been filled with tragedy, but also had a profound complexity, the likes of which we are never likely to understand, but which we can very easily begin to appreciate based on these strong interpretations of the subjects and their various daily challenges.

More than anything else, The Silent Twins is a film driven by compassion. Empathy is an increasingly rare commodity in the contemporary artistic landscape, especially when dealing with real-life subjects, since audiences tend to have a perverse fascination with knowing the sordid details of public figures, often to the point where their entire lives are condensed into short phrases that supposedly describe everything we need to know about a given individual. Regardless of the approach she was going to take with the material, Smoczyńska was always going to run into a situation where the ethics of the production would be called into question, so it only seemed logical to use the film to not explore the circumstances that surrounded the twins in a way that made them seem like outsiders to society, standing on the margins of normality for our entertainment or to satiate our curiosity (which is unfortunately far too common with such stories), but rather vibrant, complex individuals that may not have been able to communicate properly, but were still bound by the same human desires and complexities, which are the focus of this film. There is never a moment where it feels like June and Jennifer are being exposed – the director is perpetually respectful to them, and shows their lives as not being filled with complexities, a combination of joyful moments and tragedies, which merge together in this harrowing but poignant tale of sisterhood. Ultimately, what The Silent Twins is aiming to do is to paint a portrait of two people who were both bound together by some ethereal bond, but also diverged in ways that make the ending so bittersweet – it is essentially a story of two souls converged into a singular struggle against the prying eyes of the public, who view anything out of the ordinary as inherently immoral, and promote the idea of hiding such people from public view, as if anyone who does not fit into preconceived standards should be locked away rather than given the love and support they need – these are all the ideas simmering beneath the surface of this film, which feels both profound and hauntingly beautiful.

The Silent Twins is an exceptionally beautiful film that moves at its own pace, taking its time in exploring the lives of these characters. It does this through a few fascinating choices in terms of both narrative structure and visual composition, which indicates Smoczyńska’s incredible prowess and enormous creativity, as well as her profound compassion for the subject matter. The film features some of the most unique directorial decisions of the past few years, weaving together the harsh facts about June and Jennifer Gibbons, such as their upbringing as the lonely daughters of immigrants and the struggles they endured at the hands of those around them, whether the bullies that terrorized them at school, or the malicious people they encountered in their adulthood that further solidified their feelings of being unacceptable to the rest of society. It’s a complex and harrowing depiction of their lives, told in vibrant colour that demonstrates that even the bleakest stories can be stunningly beautiful with a certain degree of ambition, which is exactly what the director brings to the production. This is a work of audacity and pure imagination, telling a compelling story that feels both powerful and empathetic to the lives of two extraordinary young women who endured many challenges in their lives, and who have been consolidated into history – only now, their story feels more complete, taken out of the crude pages of sensationalistic texts, and given a more complex perspective at the hands of a director who is truly enamoured with telling this incredible story. The Silent Twins is a masterful achievement, and a film that pays sufficient tribute to their subjects, whose lives were filled with sadness and tragedy, none of which is exploitative or unnecessarily convoluted, but instead the work of empathy and enduring admiration, which coalesces in this truly beautiful and remarkable work of social commentary and historical storytelling that feels profound and respectful to the lives of these unique women and the many obstacles they faced purely because of their differences.