After rewatching The Favourite for the 87th time, it’s clear that some projects simply know the value of Rachel Weisz. But only one has thought to double that value by giving us two Rachel Weiszes (Rachel Weisze?). Yes, Prime Video’s upcoming show Dead Ringers knows what we want, and what we want is more Rachel Weisz, more Rachel Weisz being creepy, and more Rachel Weisz being gay. The series trailer teases all of that, so we can preemptively consider this show a success.
Dead Ringers is based on David Cronenberg’s 1988 film of the same name starring Jeremy Irons, which is based on the novel Twins, by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, which, in turn, is a highly fictionalized version of the lives of the very real Stewart and Cyril Marcus — identical-twin gynecologists who died within days of each other. Here, the laws of trickle-down adaptation mean that Weisz is still playing twin gynos, but much of the rest of the plot seems largely altered from Cronenberg’s version. Weisz, for example, is creating life and playing God, which, if Mary Shelley knew what she was talking about, is probably a bad idea. To find out how bad it really is, watch Dead Ringers, premiering on Prime Video on April 21.