David Cronenberg is famous for using the human body as a map to the psyche, the physical as the doorway into the ungraspable. If this premise is taken into account as a more important one, than faithfulness to the material, it could be said that the 2023 miniseries remake of his classic film Dead Ringers, is a true adaptation in spirit rather than in form. His 1988 film was at the tail end of his first cinematic period marked by his unique approach to body horror. It also began to show how Cronenberg would start making more nuanced films which would still be quite controversial, gruesome, and disturbing without being explicitly disgusting.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

This new examination of the Mantle twins’ tragic and complicated relationship takes cues from the Canadian master while adapting the story to modern times and esthetics. The iconic red surgery robes are still very much present, but important changes such as the gender of the twins and Beverly’s sexual orientation bring about new possibilities which showrunner Alice Birch explores in depth. The show also benefited from excellent directors, of which a standout is Sean Durkin, whose complex psychological studies such as The Nest have noted similarities to the intricate mental fabric of which Dead Ringers is composed.

What Is Dead Ringers About?

Prime Video

The 2023 miniseries follows the convoluted relationship, life, and work of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, two twin sisters who are pioneering gynecologists at the height of their careers. While they share a common passion for medicine, particularly for fertility and birthing, they are quite different as Elliot is non-conformist and bold, while Beverly is idealistic and shy.

The former is more interested in expanding the life of embryos outside the womb and future possibilities for fertility, while the latter is more concerned with creating a place where women can feel safe when delivering children, as she herself is attempting to get pregnant after several prior miscarriages. Despite her disappointment, her sister is determined on her getting pregnant no matter what.

Related: Dead Ringers: How the Prime Video Series Compares to David Cronenberg’s 1988 Movie

After the twins manage to convince Rebecca Parker, a morally corrupt pharmaceutical magnate (whose company is largely responsible for the opioid crisis) to finance an independent birthing center, Beverly and Elliot are both close to achieving their shared and individual dreams. Despite Beverly’s reluctance to work with someone like Rebecca, she is convinced by Elliot (who sees the investment as a chance to expand research on the possibilities of fertility) to keep on going, as this will bring her closer to having her own children as well.

While this is happening, Beverly begins a relationship with a famous actress called Genevieve Cotard, who like her is hoping to get pregnant. As they start to form a bond, Elliot, who has spent nearly every second of her life next to Beverly, begins to feel sidelined.

Codependence and Motherhood

Prime Video

The first clear difference between the novel and the movie from which the series stems from is the gender swapping of the twins. By presenting the Mantle twins as female, the whole narrative takes a slight turn as their position towards gynecology, fertility, and their own personal issues changes from the ones interpreted by Jeremy Irons in the 1988 film.

As the twins have shared everything in life, and essentially spent their entire lives together, there is a strong issue of codependency between them. The miniseries expands on this idea presented in the film and gives them a wider depth as their own personal issues are explored with larger detail thanks to the expansive range of time of the format. At the center of it all is how Elliot and Beverly are affected by their field of work, and how this in return creates distress in their existence.

Motherhood then becomes the central issue of the show, as Beverly’s relationship pulls her apart from Elliot, who feels that despite her efforts to get her sister pregnant, she will eventually be dragged away from her. Meanwhile, Beverly, despite getting everything she wants, continues to feel empty and dissatisfied, as the show moves on towards its conclusion, the twins’ success is opposite to their personal satisfaction.

How Does Dead Ringers End?

Prime Video

After being profiled by a Pulitzer-winning journalist, who saves no punches in his article about the twins’ chaotic and codependent relationship as well as Elliot’s corrupt practices towards fertility, Rebecca opts to dissociate from Elliot, forcing Beverly to sever all ties with her sister by denouncing her, thus cutting their relationship once and for all.

Beverly, who is pregnant thanks to Elliot, and in a stable relationship that would finally allow her to live her life on her own and not one eternally shared with Elliot, is deeply conflicted. While receiving an award, Beverly publicly disclaims herself and the birthing center from her sister, but she is clearly broken up about it. Here is someone who was already dealing with depression due to her failed attempts at pregnancy, complicated moral dilemmas she has had to forcefully make peace with, and a constant dissatisfaction with life. It’s just inevitable that after these events she would fall even further.

Related: David Cronenberg’s Best Movies, Ranked

In light of it all, she takes one final decision to bring her and her sister together. Even though Beverly has now everything she ever wanted, she still can’t find happiness without Elliot. She contacts her, and in a gruesome and bizarre change of events, Beverly sacrifices her life so her sister can continue to live on, taking her identity.

Without ever discussing it, almost as if it was understood by just looking at each other, Elliot performs a C-section on Beverly pulling out the twins and cutting herself as to appear she was the one who just gave birth. As she leaves looking for help, Beverly bleeds out to death, her look as she dies is almost one of bliss, like that of someone who has been set free of all of life’s complications.

What Is the Meaning of the Ending?

Prime Video

Beverly and Elliot are inseparable. It could be argued their souls are one and the same, split into different bodies, which is why they both have a sense of incompleteness without the other. Despite achieving their dreams, they both are distraught and sad and can’t seem to find a way to live their lives to the most. For Elliot, seeing her sister break away, and having a relationship she can’t be a part of, kills her. For Beverly, having all her dreams come true and still not finding solace in the fact that she has truly made it, kills her as well. Both twins know they are dying inside, and the only way out is through.

For Beverly, death not only means freeing her sister and allowing her to live fully, but also a release for herself as this will allow her to feel no more longing, her last ever feeling would actually be one of happiness to see her sister live on without the extreme separation anxiety which characterizes their relationship.

The mid-credits scene sees Elliot living on as Beverly, joined by Genevieve while strolling their twins through Central Park. There, she meets a woman who knew Beverly and learns that her sister had been going to grief sessions for some time now, in which she said she had accidentally killed Elliot as a child. This means Beverly had been probably hatching the idea of dying for a while now, setting the stage for Elliot to take over as her. This ending breaks away from Cronenberg’s film in which the twins both die together.

The Dead Ringers miniseries expands the notions of identity, dependency, and transformation by using this chilling birth scene as one of death as well, in which the struggles of individuality are solved through a traumatic and cathartic metamorphosis.