Dead Ringers is an American psychological thriller drama television miniseries developed by Alice Birch. It is based on the 1988 film of the same name by David Cronenberg, itself adapted from the 1977 novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 21, 2023. The series won a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony in June 2024.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Rachel Weisz as Beverly and Elliot Mantle, twin gynecologists. They are gender-flipped versions of the characters portrayed by Jeremy Irons in the 1988 film.
Britne Oldford as Genevieve Cotard, an actress and Beverly's love interest
Poppy Liu as Greta Leung, the Mantles' assistant and housekeeper
Jennifer Ehle as Rebecca Parker, an investor in the Mantles' birthing center and laboratory
Michael Chernus as Tom, Elliot's lab assistant
Recurring
Jeremy Shamos as Joseph
Emily Meade as Susan Parker
Kitty Hawthorne as the acting double for Beverly and Elliot Mantle opposite Rachel Weisz
Natalie Woolams-Torres as Heather
Guest
Susan Blommaert as Agnes
Liza Fernandez as Lenka
Andrew Garman as the grief support group leader
Suzanne Bertish as Linda
Maryann Urbano as Sasha
Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Jeremy
Soji Arai as Ju Won
Enoch Suho Lee as Translator
Allyson Kloster as Mckenzie
Kevin R. McNally as Alan
Tony Crane as Nick
Michael McKean as Marion
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as Silas Jordan
Erica Sweany as Florence
Production
Development
In August 2020, it was announced Amazon Prime Video had given a straight-to-series order to a television series based upon David Cronenberg's 1988 film Dead Ringers, with Annapurna Television set to produce, and Alice Birch set to serve as head writer and executive producer. Sean Durkin, Lauren Wolkstein, Karena Evans and Karyn Kusama directed episodes of the series.
Casting
Upon the initial announcement, it was revealed Rachel Weisz would star in the series. In July 2021, it was announced Michael Chernus had joined the cast as a series regular. In August 2021, it was announced Poppy Liu and Britne Oldford had joined the cast as series regulars, with Jeremy Shamos, Jennifer Ehle and Emily Meade set to recur.
Filming
Principal photography began by August 2021 in New York City.
Release
The series had its world premiere at the 2023 Canneseries on April 15, competing for Long Form competition. All six episodes of the series were released on April 21, 2023.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 87 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "If Dead Ringers doesn't wield as cutting a blade as David Cronenberg's original chiller, it's not a pale imitation either, thanks to Rachel Weisz putting on a clinic in doppelgänger duplicity." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The series was included in several mid-year lists of the best TV shows of 2023, such as The Guardian, Time and Variety. Alison Herman of Variety wrote, "Rachel Weisz has the dual role of a lifetime as the Mantle twins. [ . . . ] Gender-swapped reboots too often carry a whiff of sanctimony, but [the series] is as perverse and profane as any great Cronenberg homage. [ . . . ] Dead Ringers is more than a gimmick; it’s a cerebral spin on a nightmare."
