Polish directorAgnieszka Smoczynskarecently sat down to discuss the making of her drama biopic,The Silent Twins, withDeadline. The film chronicles the lives of June and Jennifer Gibbons, twin sisters who refused to speak with anyone besides each other, causing hardships for their family and themselves.
The story of the Gibbons daughters, June and Jennifer, is a heartbreaking tale about two immigrant sisters from Barbados who grew up in Wales, vowing only to ever speak to each other. The upcoming film will explore how sisters were failed by the school, care, and legal systems in the ’70s and ’80s, and withdrew into their own world of bizarre and whimsical poetry and prose. In 1981, at 18, the twins were admitted to Broadmoor hospital on the charges of arson and theft. Their case was picked up byMarjorie Wallace, the investigative journalist whose book the screenplay of the film is adapted from.
After watchingSmoczynska’s first feature-length film,The Lure, a Sundance Award-winning tale of two sisters,Andrea Seigel,who wrote the screenplay, approached the director with her script. “From the first words, I knew that I wanted to do everything to tell this story, to bring this story to the world,” director Smoczynska said of Seigel’s script. Siegel brought the same otherworldly whimsy toThe Silent Twinsthat madeThe Lureso successful by including the Gibbons sisters’ poetry and diaries in the film as chilling lyrics paired with stop-motion dolls, highlighting the artistry of the twins from a young age.
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“It’s a tragic story, and one of loss and one of heartbreak, but one of incredible misunderstanding,” explained actressLetitia Wright(Black Panther) who stars as June Gibbons. Wright appears oppositeTamara Lawrance(The Long Song) who portrays June’s sister, Jennifer. “What happened to them is a shame.” She went on to say, discussing how being an executive producer for Smoczynska’s film was an honor that provided her with the space to utilize her voice. Wright talks about the intensity of the story and how the strength of the Gibbons’ sisterhood began to manifest between her and Lawrance, explaining that they were both deeply affected by the atrocities the sisters faced. Both Wright and Smoczynska expressed the necessity of bringing the Gibbons sisters' story of struggle and creativity to audiences' attention.
The Silent Twinsis executive produced by Wright, Seigel, Wallace,Ewa Puszczyńska,Alicia Van Couvering,Charlie Morrison,and 30WEST’sKatie Anderson,Jake Carter,andTrevor Groth. It is produced byBen PughandJoshua Horsfield, Kindred Spirit’sAnita Gou, and Madant’sKlaudia Smieja-Rostworowska. The film also featuresJodhi May(The Witcher) as Marjorie Wallace, as well asJack Bandeira,Treva Etienne, andAmarah-Jae St. Aubyn.
ThoughThe Silent Twinswas screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the US release date has not been revealed at the moment. Read the synopsis below:
Based on the lives of June and Jennifer Gibbons, real-life identical twins who grew up in Wales, part of the only Black family in a small town. The two became known as “the silent twins” because of their refusal to communicate with anyone other than each other. They developed their own language and became catatonic when separated. The story takes place after a spree of vandalism inspired by an American boy they both idolize, when the girls, now teenagers, are sentenced to Broadmoor, an infamous psychiatric hospital, where they face the choice to separate and survive or die together.
