Vertical has announced that they have acquired North American rights for Irish horror movie The Twin. The Irish folk horror film world premiered at the 2024 Austin Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Dark Matters Feature.
Logan Donovan (Colony) appears as Nicholas, who is immersed in grief after losing his son. Nicholas and his wife Charlie (Aleksa Palladino of The Irishman) are estranged, and he is under the care of a sympathetic psychiatrist named Dr. Beaumont (Robert Longstreet, Midnight Mass).
When his wife leaves, Nicholas is alone in his home, and starts to hear voices and suffer from nightmares. Things come to a head when he encounters a figure that looks disturbingly like him. As his mental health declines, Nicholas has to fight back to stop the supernatural forces that are affecting him.
The story involves an entity known in Irish folklore as a Fetch, a demonic force “appearing as a supernatural double or apparition of a living person.” A Fetch is thought to be an omen of sorts, perhaps an indication of impending death. The Twin was originally released under the title The Fetch, in fact.
I am personally excited about the inclusion of Robert Longstreet. He has appeared in several Mike Flanagan films and series, including The Haunting of Hill House, Dr. Sleep and The Fall of the House of Usher. His performance in Midnight Mass as Joe Collie was incredible. Even though his character was only in a very few episodes, he was definitely a standout.
Irish horror is definitely having a moment, with the popularity of such films as The Hole in the Ground, Oddity, Caveat and Frewaka. J. C. Doler directed and co-wrote The Twin, and said he was proud to be able to share it with horror fans across the globe. “It’s a story about the things we try to bury that somehow find a way to dig themselves out.”
The Twin will premiere on North American screens on July 1.
Vertical has released many well-received films over the past two years, including 2024 Tribeca selection Sacramento and I Don’t Understand You (which was a 2024 SXSW selection). They also brought us The Exorcism, which starred Russell Crowe.