By Melissa Antoinette Garza
My best friend suggested this movie to me ages ago. I love Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell. The lead actors and the supporting cast, alike, are fantastic. That said, knowing there were going to be highly emotional scenes, I needed to wait for the right time to watch it. I get overly invested in great films and the characters within them. The mere mention of SAVANNAH SMILES (1982) makes me cry for hours.
That said, tonight seemed like a good night to watch the film. I was cuddling up to my bunny Mama Dandy and felt confident enough to watch it without breaking down. I was wrong. The dynamic of the main characters hit home in a few ways that I didn’t expect.
SKELETON TWINS begins with Milo (Bill Hader) slitting his wrists. Living in LA and wanting desperately to be an actor, but unable to even get an agent and depressed out of his mind, he decides to end it. His estranged twin sister Maggie (Kristen Wiig) who never left her hometown is about to swallow a bunch of pills when she gets the call about Milo.
Though they haven’t seen each other in a decade, Maggie rushes to him and though at first resistant, Milo agrees to go back to her place. He meets her husband Lance (Luke Wilson) who is the kindest and most understanding man in the universe. Lance thinks they are trying to have a child, but Maggie is secretly taking birth-control and worse having affairs with different men.
As Milo recovers, he reconnects with Rich (Ty Burrell), an old teacher who was fired for having a sexual relationship with Milo when he was only fifteen. Rich has a girlfriend and teenage son.
Milo is completely confused by the situation. He feels a deep connection to Rich as he was the first person Milo ever kissed and the one he lost his virginity to. He wants to impress Rich and be with him. that said, Rich is basically a child molester who unable to come out of the closet engaged with an illegal relationship. That isn’t to say that Rich is a one-dimensional scumbag. Burrell did convey an empathetic side to the character.
Maggie and Milo begin rebuilding the connection they had as kids. Their childhood wasn’t a normal one as their father jumped off a bridge and their mother was absent for most of their lives. Growing up the two only had each other. Though they dealt with the loss and their depression in different ways, they suffered similar pain.
SKELETON TWINS is a drama first and comedy second. There are many great comedic moments and both Hader and Wiig shine in these scenes, as one would expect. That said, they also shine with the comedy stops. The heartbreak, anger, harsh words and sadness is just as powerful as the laughter and happy times Milo and Maggie share.
I’m not going to lie. I cried. Anyone who has suffers from depression or has attempted suicide will understand every destructive move made by the duo. That said, even if you had a privileged life, if you have a sibling you’ll relate.
I have an older brother and an older sister who couldn’t be further apart when it comes to personality, sense of humor and overall beliefs. I fit square in the middle, but thankfully all three of us have a great relationship and have for years.
The bond that can’t be broken is that the three of us have an understanding that no one else in the world has. We know what we endured as children, how we endured it and who we leaned on to endure it. Only the three of us wholly shared that experience and developed that connection. There are very few people who you can communicate with, without speaking or talk to knowing that they completely get it. My siblings, my mother, my husband and my best friend are the only ones on that list.
SKELETON TWINS is a movie that stays with you after it’s over. It makes you think of the people in your life that are there for you and that have been. It’s a must-see, but if you suffer depression watch it on a good day because some of the arguments are heated and the dialogue is realistic enough that it’s easy to relate it to oneself.
Currently, the film is free on AMAZON PRIME and HULU. I’ll definitely watch it again and I’m sure I’ll cry again, but it’s worth every tear.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8/10
