The Silent Twins is the big-screen adaptation of the true story of twin sisters, June and Jennifer Gibbons, who only communicated with one another in a world that failed to understand them.

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“The Silent Twins”, starring Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance

Starring Letitia Wright (June) and Tamara Lawrance (Jennifer) as the twin sisters who refused to speak with anyone else. The Silent Twins, is based on the 1986 best-selling book of the same name, which narrates how the sisters created a rich, fascinating world to escape the reality of their own lives.

Refusing to communicate with anyone else, even their own family, silence was their bond and their imagination set them free. For decades the story of the sisters who wouldn’t speak to anyone has enthralled anyone who has come across their story. This big-screen adaptation gives a sympathetic peek into the lives of these young girls turned women who were failed by systems that were supposed to help them and who chose silence as a weapon to protect themselves.

 

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Unsurprisingly, both Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance delivered powerful performances as June and Jennifer Gibbons in the spellbinding film. The picture also marks the on-screen debut of Leah Mondesir-Simmonds and Eva-Arianna Baxter, who play the young June and Jennifer Gibbons.

The Silent Twins shares the early lives of the twins and how they suffered much bullying for looking and acting differently to those around them, being the only West Indian kids in Haverfordwest – a town in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

“Unsurprisingly, both Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance delivered powerful performances as June and Jennifer Gibbons in the spellbinding film.”

At home, the pair had always been somewhat withdrawn from their siblings and parents, but increasingly these behaviours became more extreme and isolating. As they grow older, and unable to fit in the narrow and unyielding system which simply didn’t know how to cater for the unique needs of the girls, they made choices which led to further anguish and ultimately time spent in Broadmoor Hospital.

 

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The Silent Twins book is written by journalist Marjorie Wallace, who met the twins when they were at Broadmoor Hospital. They entrusted her with their diaries and Marjorie quickly realised the girls were incredibly talented, but alienated, and not psychopathic as they had been diagnosed.

“Today, they would be geniuses in this era.”

In addition to starring in the film, both Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance took on producer and executive producer roles. Bringing the story of the twins to light was important to them.

In a recent press screening of the film, Letitia Wright made an impassioned statement about the importance of sharing the story of the twins in a sympathetic light. She said: “We’re looking at the lives of two beautiful, young Black women, two young girls who were just trying to understand themselves within a society that was quite difficult to grow up in. Beautiful creatives. Today, they would be geniuses in this era.”

 

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The Silent Twins is directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska and the screenplay written By Andrea Seigel.

Watch The Silent Twins official trailer below:


The Silent Twins is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 9 December 2022.

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