The Payphone of “Dead Ringers”

A payphone makes a brief, portentous appearance at the end of Dead Ringers, the depressing-as-hell but engrossing 1988 film by David Cronenberg. To explain the moment in which this payphone appears would give a spoiler for the film, even though its ending must seem inevitable to anybody watching it for the first time.

I’d have to watch it again but I think this is the only scene in this movie that was filmed out of doors. Dead Ringers focuses on the triumphs and travails of two gynecologists who are identical twins. Both the twins are played by Jeremy Irons. Their physical similarities are so close that even their shared lover cannot tell them apart. Such an unlikely and even preposterous premise takes nothing away from this film, largely on account of its A+ acting, beautiful production, and virtuoso performance(s) from Jeremy Irons playing both the twins. Irons should not have been awarded an Oscar for this film. He should have won two of them. Find a copy if you can, or just enjoy this brief minute of admittedly non-momentous cinematic payphonery.