THR: The Skeleton Twins: Sundance Review

If you’re going to juggle despair and humor in a story about two emotionally unstable, occasionally suicidal adult siblings who keep tripping up on the disappointments of their lives, it’s tricky to find a tone that’s neither too whiny nor too glib. But Craig Johnson’s delightful The Skeleton Twins gets it right. Warm, funny, heartfelt and even uplifting, the film is led by revelatory performances from Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, both of them exploring rewarding new dramatic range without neglecting their mad comedic skills. This one seems a strong contender to join the club of Sundance discoveries that went on to hurdle the indie niche.

The closest recent equivalent to what Hader and Wiig achieve here — both in solo moments and through the brilliant chemistry of their many scenes together — is Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ affecting performance in Enough Said. All three Saturday Night Live alums initially honed their instincts for comic timing and offbeat line readings in sketch comedy. Watching as they stretch unaccustomed muscles on the more serious side of the spectrum provides a special kind of pleasure.

Johnson, who previously made 2009’s True Adolescents, co-wrote the screenplay with Mark Heyman. While its repeat pattern of emotional crises followed by periods of calm could perhaps be called schematic, the film’s conventional aspects are entirely overshadowed by the richness of its central characters and their funny-sad complications.