Ethan and Grayson Dolan, more famously known as The Dolan Twins, have been major social media influencers since they were in high school, starting with Vine, an app where users could post seven second videos about anything they wanted. They then turned to YouTube, a media sharing and streaming platform, where they have generated nearly 11 million subscribers. Along with these numbers, the twins have also won numerous Teen Choice Awards for their internet content.
I began watching the Dolan Twins around 2016 from what I can fully remember, but it could have been earlier than that. I knew that watching this documentary would feel a bit personal, having followed the twins on their rise to fame throughout the years. As I began college, I strayed away from YouTube, focusing on my academics and becoming independent, and so my interest in the twins began to diminish as well. It wasn’t until early 2019 that I heard the news and got hit with a big wave of nostalgia.
On January 19, 2019, their father, Sean Dolan, passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 50 years old.
A little over a year later, the Dolan Twins released an hour and a half long documentary to celebrate the life of their father and to reveal how they coped with his loss.
They begin where it all started, their hometown, Long Valley, New Jersey. It’s January 19, 2020, one year since their dad’s passing, and they start off the day by attending a therapy session. The therapist talks about grievance, and how each person displays it in different ways. A majority of people going through a tragic time in their life will often become numb at first, not knowing how to process their own emotions and in turn not displaying any at all.
Throughout the video, Ethan and Grayson experiment with ways that they can cope with their feelings and father’s death through memory and bonding exercises, talking with childhood friends/colleagues of their dad and visiting childhood spots and family.