YMMV / The Twins (2022)

• Accidental Aesop: Sibling rivalries must always be regulated. Harmless bickering is one thing and fine enough. But when taken to insidious, manipulative, and toxic levels, the parents and authority figures must step in to prevent anything worse from happening.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • What is Lucas' true motivation for bullying Lake and telling on him? Is he craving for attention to avoid the feeling of isolation? Or is he doing it out of pure sadism? Lake making a jab that it's the former makes Lucas hesitate for a second.
  • Was the teacher really fooled by Lucas' lies, or did she just not care since it would be a waste of time?
  • Lake disposing his brother's corpse and impersonating his life instead of informing the authorities is never shown if it was done out of twisted revenge, an opportunity to live a better life, or pragmatism to avoid getting into even bigger trouble in school.
  • Are the parents that oblivious to how Lucas acts like an insensitive jerk towards Lake or are they like the teacher and turn a blind eye to it?
• Angst? What Angst?: Lake's immediate reaction to seeing his brother killed by a car right in front of him is to dispose of the corpse and take over his brother's life, without much guilt or remorse over it. While he may have a valid reason thanks to his brother being a terrible person to him, a car accident death isn't easy to stomach, especially for a child.
• Fridge Brilliance: Lake's disposing of his dead brother's corpse and impersonating him instead of informing the authorities seems like horrifying revenge-fueled behavior, but he has pragmatic reasons to do so. Thanks to Lucas ruining Lake's reputation, his Apathetic Teacher as well as the students would likely dismiss the truth, accuse him of murder (deliberately or by inaction), and ruin his life irrevocably ("Lake pushed Lucas onto the road, refused to help him up, and a car came along" can be very easily twisted). Lake would rather take up Lucas' good reputation instead by impersonating him and telling the others that "Lake" had gone missing, which they would likely not care as much for.
• Fridge Horror:
  • When Lake disposed of Lucas, he likely also stripped his brother's dead body. How else would he be recognized as Lucas when he got home, if he wasn't wearing his dead brother's clothes? Furthermore, as it was raining, Lake could wash away any clothing bloodstains from the accident.
  • How long does Lake believe he can get away with living a fake life? Since his brother wears prescription glasses, his parents are going to eventually figure the truth the next time "Lucas" has an appointment with his optometrist. Better yet, the school is going to figure out sooner or later that Lake has had a lot of absences.
• Jerkass Woobie: While Lake isn't exactly innocent himself — casually disposing of Lucas' dead body and taking on his appearance instead of alerting the authorities — it is still difficult not to feel bad for him as he constantly gets terrorized by Lucas for no reason whatsoever.
• Karmic Overkill: As much of a terrible person as Lucas was towards his brother, being punished with a fatal car accident, then having his brother dispose his body and take over his identity as Laser-Guided Karma, was seen as overkill by a number of viewers, to the point where the film can be classified as horror.
• Love to Hate: Lucas. His utter smugness and manipulations just make you want to strangle him.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • In general, the film's sudden Genre Shift to bleak horror in its second half. If you're just expecting this film to be a straightforward sibling drama where the brothers reconcile in the end, you're in for a devastating shock.
  • Lucas getting run over by a car. You never see the details, but the sheer bluntness of the scene will have your jaw on the floor.
  • That scene was already horrifying in and of itself but what's even more terrifying is Lake emotionlessly dragging his brother's corpse, disposing it, and then stealing Lucas' identity, all with a cold look in his eyes.
  • Lucas repeatedly antagonizing Lake by making the latter look bad in front of everyone is also needlessly unsettling, especially for those who have gone through similar circumstances.
• Realism-Induced Horror: The twins' Sibling Rivalry and especially Lucas using social manipulation to villainize Lake is just extremely disturbing to watch. It makes the film's first half just as horror as its shocking second half.
• Shocking Moments: Lucas being killed by a car is something you don't expect at all. The audience can see the car coming as evidenced by the brightening headlights, but many would initially expect Lake to save his brother at the last moment or the car to swerve. It's the exact moment that turns the film from grim sibling drama to bone-chilling horror.
• Signature Scene: The scene where Lucas gets killed by a car, even if's offscreen, is the most well known scene of the short and the ones that audiences talk about the most.

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