Between Sinners, Mickey 17, and The Monkey, Hollywood spent 2025 reveling in storylines with clones, twins, and brotherly bonds. Here are ten films where actors play two or more characters, whether they be clones, siblings, or doppelgangers.

The Prestige (2006)

The Prestige, a psychological thriller directed by Christopher Nolan and starring iconic actors like Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Michael Caine, as well as pop culture icon David Bowie, pulls off this fantastic trick with both Bale’s and Jackman’s characters. The two lead actors play up and coming stage magicians in the 1890s, with Jackman doubling as a look alike of his character Robert Angier named Gerald Root, while Bale doubles as the assistant to his own character, Alfred Borden, named Bernard Fallon. The dual roles play an essential role to the plot, as the competing magicians are both attempting The Transported Man trick, which requires them to be in two places at once as they “teleport” across the stage.

The Monkey (2025)

The Monkey, directed by Osgood Perkins and starring actors Theo James and Tatiana Maslany, is a horror comedy that similarly features two leads doubling up. Theo James plays twin brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn in present day, while actor Christian Convery plays the younger version of the twins in flashbacks. The film chronicles their lives as they deal with a cursed wind-up monkey they inherited from their father. The twins are introduced on opposite ends of the social ladder, with Hal being bullied in school while Bill does much of the bullying. However, their positions in the social hierarchy are cleverly switched in the present day, as Bill becomes a social recluse. Interestingly enough, Maslany, who plays the twins’ mother in the film, found her own claim to fame through the show Orphan Black, where she played up to eight different characters by the end of the show’s run, winning her an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2016. Maslany will also be starring in Perkins’ next film, Keeper out now in theaters. 

Sinners (2025)

Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, is part-horror movie part-musical that features Jordan as the titular twins Smoke and Stack. Set in the 1930s, the twins return home to Mississippi after working with Al Capone in Chicago, with the goal of opening a juke joint for a night of freedom and fun with their community, expressed through song and dance. As fellow stars of the film like actress Hailee Steinfeld and actor Miles Canton in his film debut provide excellent musical tracks, backed by a stellar score from composer Ludwig Göransson, they encounter a night they’ll never forget upon meeting the Irish vampire Remmick, played by actor Jack O’Connell, who similarly provides music throughout.

X (2022)

X, directed by Ti West and starring Mia Goth, is a slasher horror that focuses on a group of young filmmakers in 1979 who are making an adult film. Goth plays the dual roles of Maxine, who stars in the adult film, as well as Pearl, an elderly woman who slowly kills off the film crew one by one out of jealousy for their youth and sexual freedom. The film utilizes Goth’s dual roles to touch upon themes of aging, sexuality, freedom, and general taboos around sex and nudity, especially in film.

Us (2019)

Us, directed by Jordan Peele and starring actors Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, is a psychological horror film based around the entire concept of the Double, or doppelgangers, referred to in the film as the “Tethered”. The film was inspired by the classic Twilight Zone episode “Mirror Image”, where a young woman encountered her evil doppelganger. The film follows a family who encounters their Tethered selves, which escalates into a larger conspiracy connected to the Tethered population, found hiding in abandoned subway tunnels and sewers.

Predestination (2014)

Predestination, directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, is a science fiction thriller film starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, who both play multiple characters throughout the film. The film follows Hawke and Snook’s characters throughout their lives, showing how the two of them impacted each other’s lives through the years. The film was based on Robert Heinlein’s classic short story “‘–All You Zombies–’”, which centers around a young man’s life upended by time travel.

Mickey 17 (2025)

Mickey 17, directed by Bong Joon Ho, is a sci-fi film that stars actor Robert Pattinson as the titular Mickey, a man who enlists on an extraterrestrial mission as an “Expendable”, someone who willingly clones themselves over and over to test the extremities of the new planet they travel to. The film also stars actors Mark Ruffalo and Steven Yeun, as well as Toni Colette and Naomi Ackie. It uses the Expendable plot line to explore differences in the different Mickey’s presented throughout the film, while also serving as a commentary and critique of the ultra wealthy and class disparity.

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

They Cloned Tyrone, directed by Juel Taylor, is a sci-fi comedy film starring actors John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris. The film centers on Boyega’s character, a drug dealer named Fontaine, who is shot and killed after getting payment from one of his customers, Foxx’s character Slick Charles. When Fontaine shows up at Slick Charles’ house the next day, the two meet up with Parris’ character, a sex worker named Yo-Yo, to get to the bottom of Fontaine’s supposed death and re-appearance. The film explores topics of racism and government overstepping through its comedy and cloning.

The Polar Express (2004)

Polar Express, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is an animated Christmas film starring actors Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, and Peter Scolari. Hanks voiced 6 different characters in the film, including The Conductor of the titular train, the grown-up version of the lead Hero-Boy character, who serves as the narrator of the film, as well as voicing Santa Clause and the Hobo, who is found on top of the train. Hanks voicing the different characters the main Hero-Boy encounters, specifically Clause and the Hobo, represent the two sides of Christmas. Clause represents the hope and belief of the season, and the Hobo aptly represents the opposite, most clearly shown when he controls a Scrooge puppet.

Men (2022)

Men, directed by Alex Garland, is a surrealistic folk horror film starring Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. The film focuses on Buckley’s character, a widow, who travels to a countryside town where every man is played by Kinnear, who all begin to torment her. It uses the plurality of Buckley’s role to focus on common interactions between men and women in society.