I’m a Twin. Here’s what Sinners got right about my experience.

And common tropes the film wisely avoided.

I’ve devoured many interpretations of each element of the film, Sinners. You can find some of my favorites covered here and here and here. As a twin, I thought it would be fun to provide my own hot take from a perspective of firsthand experience. Here are the aspects of twindom that Sinners touches on that resonate with me (and why I’m grateful it stayed away from the most common tropes).

Twins as individuals

Cinema leans heavily into twins as a singular unit or relies on cosmetic juxtapositions like accents as differentiators. Twins presented as one side of the same coin is the usual MO when presenting these lookalikes in films. Think Parent Trap, Dead Ringers, or Sisters (I love that crazy film!).

Common trope: One is good, one is evil. One is popular, one is a loser. One is alive, one is dead until they come back for revenge purposes. In essence, they represent fragments of a singular personality divided between two people.

Not on Sinners watch!

Smoke and Stack display distinct actions and reactions baked into their personalities thanks to Michael B. Jordan’s stunning performance. The reductive carbon copy trope is skipped in favor of showcasing them as charismatic, complex individuals.

I enjoyed exploring Smoke and Stack’s personal relationships and experiences, which are separate from each other.

My experience is similar. Although I share an identical appearance to my sister, we have lived very different lives. She has a Ph.D. I peaced out after my MBA. She worked at the same company for over 20 years. I consider five years with the same employer a good run. She has lived on the West Coast most of her adult life. I’ve moved from Louisiana to Missouri to the East Coast and feel pretty certain I’ll move again at some point. I get bored easily, and she pushes through that in a way I don’t. You can imagine this makes our life experiences varied and not at all a cookie-cutter mirror of each other.

Sartorial and aesthetic differences

(L-R): I have no idea which one is me!

Our mother dressed us alike for a few years and then stopped. One reason is that it was expensive and limited our wardrobe. The other was so that we would develop our own personalities. Have I encountered twins who dress alike? Yes, and I truly believe that it is a choice that makes sense for them. My twin and I have different style preferences, so we don’t dress alike. Again, a choice. But if cinema were to be believed, twins would be mirror images in ALL WAYS, including clothing and hairstyle.

Common trope: Twindom can only be truly experienced as a rigorous adherence to sameness.

Thank goodness, Sinners took a different path.

Sinners employ colors and specific sartorial choices as a visual cue to contrast each twin, imbuing them with their own identity. Smoke favored blue and a signature scalley cap; Stack favored red and a sleek fedora. Notice when those colors bleed (pun intended) between the two brothers midway through the film. It is a genius visual transition that the brothers are different, but they carry parts of each other with them.

Loyalty is next level

(L-R) Me, my nephew, and my twin. I swear she isn’t a vampire and I always let her in my house!

I’m not saying my twin has never irritated me throughout our lifetime, and I’m sure I have annoyed her too, but…

Twins can have a certain kind of loyalty that can’t be found with any other sibling. The bond is real, and I was moved by Smoke and Stack’s illustration of this.

Common trope: Twins must be secretly competitive, jealous, or even hate each other.

When I’m asked what it’s like to be a twin, I can’t answer. I’ve never NOT been a twin! I have nothing else to compare it to. Not many people can say they are identical twins, so there is a special freakishness to it. And I wouldn’t want it any other way!