THE SILENT TWINS - A Psychologically Gripping Film

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Let’s talk about “The Silent Twins” shall we?

Not my regular style of review…please bear with me. This is a real-life story that hits differently, so I’m going to do it differently! No! It isn’t a spoiler! It’s a true story visualised!

After seeing the Netflix movie, I just had to read up on the real story from online materials, and I’ve equally watched a documentary on this with real life footages on YouTube.

So here…ABOUT THE FILM

This 2022 Netflix Movie titled “The Silent Twins” is based on the intriguing true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons born on the 11th of April, 1963 to the family of Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons who were part of the Windrush generation as Caribbean immigrants from Barbados.

The family eventually settled in Wales in the United Kingdom, but the twins had been born in Yemen, where their father worked prior.

In this Netflix adaptation, June Gibbons is played by 'Black Panther' co-star, Letitia Wright, while Jennifer Gibbons is portrayed by Tamara Lawrence

June and Jennifer were like any other normal twins at birth, but as time went on, their parents realised that they were not developing at the same pace as their peers.

Shockingly or not so surprisingly, the parents would then be advised after numerous assessments from psychologists and SALT (Speech and Language Therapy) teams that the twins were diagnosed with selective muteness (speech impairment by choice).

They would only speak to themselves within the confines of their bedroom in a language best known to them. From secretly recorded tapes, experts termed it a sped up Bajan Creole language.

June and Jennifer created a fantasy world for themselves in their bedroom with dolls, writing fiction in tiny letters. Hence, they were dubbed, “The Silent Twins”

The twins were identical and inseparable. They got bullied in school for the way they walked with their heads facing down, not speaking to anyone and their general demeanor.

They were about the only black kids in the neighborhood and in the school at the time. To help manage being picked on by other kids after school hours, the school authority would then make a decision to dismiss the Gibbons twins five minutes earlier before pick-up times.

The twins, when they turned 18, after taking to writing stories with manual typewriters, would then deteriorate to become fixated on certain American twin boys who weren’t particularly good influences on them.

Their new found relationship with the boys would further aggravate the girls’ irrational behaviour, introducing them to alcohol, drugs, sex and all other juvenile activities that they ended up being tried for vandalism, theft and arson.

Consequently, the twins were then sectioned under the Mental Health Act of 1983 following a statement from their psychiatrist and were admitted into the Broadmoor Hospital, a medium secure mental health facility where they spent eleven(11) years.

A month before they would clock 30, on the 9th of March, 1993, on their way to being transferred to Caswell Clinic in Wales (closer to home), Jennifer suffered what people believed to have been a heart attack. She dïed in her sleep.

The exact cause of her deäth remains a mystery according to some sources. However, by a stroke of “two souls that live as one,” the deäth of one appearing to have liberated the other, June would then start communicating with people and finding her way around society.

Her speech mannerisms nevertheless, from a YouTube documentary I watched is heartbreaking to hear. You’d have to listen keenly to understand the words she says. Such a beautiful woman she is!

MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS

The movie portrayal is so psychologically gripping. The two actresses deserve an award for how they interpreted the roles depicting the idiosyncrasies of the psychotic headspace of the Gibbons sisters enough for a compelling performance. It was so believable!!!

Whilst watching this nonetheless, it got boring to be honest cause I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the twins’ seemingly odd abnormal behaviour yet I couldn’t quite quit watching cause I was intrigued as the story was compelling. That’s how much it played with my head. It’s a grueling experience.

Also, it appears the cast director of this movie could not find a set of identical (paternal) twins to play the role as good as Letitia and Tamara did. Initially, I thought the real life sisters were fraternal twins as they didn’t particularly look alike in the movie until I read the real life story during my little research and saw the real-time pictures and video clips of the original Gibbons twins.

What’s so scary or grappling about the twins? Someone may ask! Hmmm…

Now, imagine you being in the shoes of Rosie, their immediate elder sister, with whom they shared the same room and would only talk to her until they suddenly stopped.

Imagine what goes on in the minds of the entire family during family and festive times when the super loved and cherished twins would keep to themselves, isolated in their bedrooms, enjoying only their own company.

Imagine the emotional and psychological torture their parents must have gone through, knowing that they speak to each other but won’t speak to anyone else! That…that is devastating.

They were a danger to themselves as well as to society as they’d occasionally self-harm and do all sorts.

My head was going through a million things while watching this and even after.
That scene of a person drowning in a pool of cola…mehn…! That’s next level dope.

Asked to rate the film, I'll give it an 8 out of 10 as per the creativity in the editing, graphics, and stellar performances from the two ladies in this movie.

Have you seen or heard about this story before? What did you think?

Until next time...BYE