8/10

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig star as a brother and sister who attempt suicide at the same time sending Hader into the hospital. It marks their first interaction in ten years. The Skeleton Twins was an absolutely fantastic film that takes something as serious as suicide and gives it a comedic brush. It’s rare in any film let alone a comedy that two main stars will be pushed equally to such incredibly deep performances, but that is the case here. The film gives both of it’s main protagonists equal time within the story to make the audience relate to them, and relate we do. Hader plays Milo, a gay man who returns to the town he grew up in to move in with his sister Maggie (Wiig) and her husband Lance (Luke Wilson). Milo is the kind of guy we can cheer for because he is battling the demons of loneliness trying to fit in with a world that feels like it has already passed him by. Hader is triumphant in showing us the emotion and sadness in this character without even flashing a tear. Wiig is what impressed me the most about this film because her character cheats on Lance with her Scuba instructor and yet we still feel like a friend cheering for the best outcome for her in the end. Kristen definitely delivers her deepest performance to date, and the chemistry between her and her former SNL co-star make for the best exchanges i have ever seen between a brother and sister role. They show that they aren’t as strong separated as they are together. They both have problems, but the other one knows that and is there to pick them up. It is the fine example of two performances lifting a film with a so-so script that would normally come off as bland with two actors who do not quite have the chemistry of Hader and Wiig. Where The Skeleton Twins shines the brightest is in those comedic moments right after an exchange in which you think Maggie and Milo are going to kill each other. One scene in particular is the most warm and hilariously timed musical number of the year which shows Milo trying to tell his sister that everything will be Okay. The soundtrack gave us a nice time capsule back to the 80’s with arena rock ballads and even the Growing Pains theme song. It’s one of the best uses of music in cinema that i have seen this year, and i couldn’t stop smiling. You expect a comedy after watching the trailer, but what you get is something deeper that brings out the best not only in comedy, but drama as well. The camera work was also done exceptionally well with up close shots frame by frame whenever a character is talking. It’s kind of reminiscent to a Wes Anderson style, but never done quite to the trademark feel that an Anderson film has. The setting around them is of a suburban small town in New York during the fall, and this works perfectly with their Skeleton Twins symbol. The title’s meaning comes from the two characters being completely different on the outside, but they are the same person on the inside. When one of them hurts, so does the other one. The film’s opening scene of them both committing suicide at the same time felt a little convenient, but i think it’s more of a commentary on them growing together even when they are thousands of miles apart. I definitely recommend this film to everyone, but i feel a female audience will get more out of it. The film breaks Hader and Wiig out of their typecast comedy roles and shows that they are dramatic powerhouses to be reckoned with. The Skeleton Twins isn’t playing to a wide release currently, but it’s one of those rare treasures that you need to seek out for a great theater experience. The Skeleton Twins is funny, touching, and most of all human in it’s deposition of a brother and sister that stand hand in hand against a world that isn’t always kind.