Lifetime’s ‘Killer Twin’ perfectly explores twin rivalry in a diabolical thriller, but misses on an impactful end
Spoilers for ‘Killer Twin’
"We lived in the orphanage; we were separated when we were really young”, says the voiceover of Amber (Lindsay Hartley) while talking about her long lost twin.
This might sound very common for most stories about twins, where kids are separated at birth or orphaned and taken away by different families and each sees an entirely different life. And most often than not, the siblings turn out to be completely opposite of each other.
Lifetime’s ‘Killer Twin’ (earlier titled as ‘A Sister’s Obsession’) is no different and joins the club of the classic “good twin” and “bad twin” concept, which is easily established in the first half of the movie.
The story opens with little twin girls in an orphanage, one treated differently than the other. One is then adopted by a family while the other stays behind. Flashforward to the present day, Kendra Walker (Lindsay Hartley) is a successful adult woman. She has what one would say “the perfect life”; a loving husband, a promising career, a nice house, and now, she is also pregnant. And then Amber (also Lindsay Hartley) sneaks into her life! What seems like an identity theft to Kendra turns out to be ghost from her past.
It is obvious what happens next - Amber tries to steal her twin sister’s perfect life and makes it dangerous for Kendra to live. Understanding Amber’s psyche is the main experience of this movie. It’s clear that she is jealous of her sister. Amber is revengeful of Kendra and tries to replace her and live her life. But why?
Let’s dial back to the beginning of the story, when we saw Kendra and Amber in the orphanage. Although the scenes from this part were limited, it was clear that the girls, as kids were treated differently. While the orphanage administrator is gentle with Kendra, she is rough and very stern with Amber. Later, when a family comes to adopt a child, they choose Kendra and not Amber. In some way, ever since her younger days, Amber has always lost out on opportunities and snubbed down, making her feel neglected.
It is no news that when growing up, anything that a child experiences stays with them forever, more so with traumatic, stressful situations. And thus, when Amber saw being discriminated against her twin sister, she grew up developing an animosity towards Kendra.
Through a series of diabolical events, Amber tries to make Kendra’s life miserable, to the extent of threatening her life, only to claim her own worth in this world. And while doing that, actor Lindsay Hartley does a remarkable job in balancing the contrasting characters. If she is charming and affable as Kendra, then she is simultaneously the psychotic and aggressive Amber, all in the same breadth and that is sure praiseworthy. Even the narrative lives up to its promise of a suspenseful thriller and keeps the tension building throughout the movie.
Despite all this, what fails to make this a complete experience is the bland and unexpected ending, with Kendra and her husband having a laugh in the future as they recollect the violent events of their past. After going through what Kendra went through, it was only logical that Amber’s presence in her life would impact her and even after she is gone, Kendra would not forget the trauma. It so appears that neither Amber left a mark on Kendra’s memories, nor in ours.
However, all said and done, ‘Killer Twin’ could pass off well as a good weekend watch!