Identical twin brothers Mark Polish and Michael Polish have written, directed, and starred in an emotional romance about a prostitute who falls in love with Siamese twins. The Polish Brothers play the conjoined twins Blake and Francis Falls, who are joined at the chest and thus share many vital organs. They have come to the big city to find their long-lost mother and end their suffering once and for all. As a birthday present to themselves, they hire a pretty young prostitute named Penny Michele Hicks to comfort them in their dark hotel room. Turned off at first, Penny eventually sees beyond the boys' disabilities and agrees to help them. She invites them to an underground Halloween party where they finally fit in for the first time in their lives, albeit as part of a freak show. Slowly Penny falls in love with Blake; she explores his body in such a sensual way that she is both attracted and repulsed by his deformed torso. Eventually, Blake reveals that his better half, Francis, is dying. He must choose between dying with his brother or a risky operation that would allow him to be separated and further explore the love he has experienced with Penny. Can Blake adjust to an identity of his own? Can he ever get over the guilt of abandoning his brother? Is life worth living when a part of you is gone? ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
is neutral about it.
Twin Falls Idaho is a wildly original and emotionally potent slice of weirdness that recalls the films of
David Lynch, both visually and tonally, while exploring thematic territory previously undocumented on film. An eerily unconventional sight to behold, especially with the sophisticated makeup effects and cloaking of the actors' extra body parts, Mark and Michael Polish's conjoined twins inspire endless philosophical quandaries about the nature of wholeness and identity. What is smart about their screenplay is that it does not serve these up on a platter. In fact, many of the film's wrenching plot details, like the fact that Michele Hicks' prostitute lives with the guilt of having given up a retarded child for adoption, are only hinted at in the script, with supreme respect for minimalism and the viewer's capacity for appreciating nuance. Newcomer Hicks is a revelation as the viewer's surrogate, who restrains a flood of curious questions in deference to an awkward politeness. Visually, she strikes as much of an impression as the freakish twins, with her gothic mascara and hauntingly gaunt figure. After opening up a wellspring of previously unconsidered questions about the logistics of the twins' social life, sleeping patterns, and biological commingling, the Polish brothers address them in a satisfying succession throughout the gradual narrative, often through the tactless prying of secondary characters. Identical twins in the viewing audience may find Twin Falls Idaho especially fertile, since these issues work as a fascinating extension of their unique sibling bond, with which the directors are quite familiar. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide