Dead Ringers (2023)

Gorgeously unsettling tour de force. ... Dead Ringers is an incredible work of art, full of knotty conversations about the give and take of society at all levels. It takes an unapologetically feminine look at the politics, science, and emotion of maternity in the modern medical era. But more than anything else, it’s a brilliant showcase for one Rachel Weisz, who is operating at the top of her game.

Weisz’s nuanced performance as Elliot and Beverly is next-level brilliant. ... A twisty, unsettling narrative that’s at once darkly entertaining and dangerously unpredictable. “Dead Ringers” is must-see TV, even when it’s hard to watch.

All of Birch’s delicate, even dangerous work would have largely been for naught had she not nabbed Weisz. Playing Beverley and Elliot with a sharp, intimidating level of commitment, the actress is riveting and wondrous.

Yes, TV does rely too much on remakes and reboots, but maybe I shouldn’t care when the result is this good.

It’s a measure of this seductive horror show that you want to watch these weird sisters carry on, and on.

If the final episode feels a bit rushed and reveals that some of the season's subplots don't really add up to much, Dead Ringers is an undeniably audacious, provocative, tough to shake series.

DOA. Despite the maternity ward screaming and cursing and blood on the aprons, the cocaine-whiffing and lesbian-contrived-kissing, the series is … boring. It’s an off-putting story— not on the documentary level, but on the dramaturgical.

As a huge Cronenberg fan I though this was a very odd choice of a Cberg movie to convert to a 8 hour show . It's not one of his best , really . The show has some of the strange darkness of the film , and Rachel Weisz is a stellar actress , on of the best of her generation. However, as a whole this show feels all too much an obvious product of the woke / Amazon Era of television , as opposed to how it could've been as an Hbo 2000s show . Lots of sassy New York women (literal lesbians mostly ) swearing and being girl bosses and whatnot . Weisz doesn't really need any of that to be interesting, come on. End the woke Era, soon. Cronenberg would like that as well probably , if a show of one of his films gets a redo. Crimes of the future has shown that guy is still visionary.

Many people will recall Cronenberg's 1988 thriller with Jeremy Irons as twin doctors, but there was actually an earlier version starring Bette Davis! This new incarnation is a series that casts Rachel Weisz as the identical siblings with a creepily close relationship. They're also brilliant gynecologists who are researching innovative and possibly illegal ways create life. The first ep is dark and disturbing, including the most explicit birth montage I've ever seen. Things are still weird in Ep 2, but soon after it becomes a relationship drama, losing site of the sci-fi elements. It has a slick visual style and compelling cinematography, plus some creepy body/organ weirdness. To top it off, Weisz is brilliant in both roles, creating 2 different women with equally troubling issues. While the concept swings big, the promise of the first episodes is diluted by too much romance, which renders the series ultimately disappointing. (Review based on all 6 episodes)

This is a weird show, I think Rachel Weisz did wonderful acting two roles at the same time, but most of the time it is largely graphic for the sake of being graphic. There are some character instances which would imply sociopathy, but are diluted by helping women give birth. The creepy and major negative for me is the group they seek funding from, they are a globalist-transhumanist cult. The old man is an admitted rapist, a majority of ambiguous incestuous relationships to breed specific traits in humans, and there is a woman whom wants to live in a globalist dictatorship. These plots are very offputting and there was never a condemnation of such a thing, which leads me to believe that they condone this type of fascism.

A mess. After three episodes I've concluded that i have no idea what's going on and why i should care. A lot of f-this/f-that, most to no purpose -- but that's what writers are delivering these days - it's beyond tedious.