As a review of a documentary, it is hard to not discuss the basics of the subject matter. I will avoid spoilers about what is revealed later in the movie and stick mainly to what is in the trailer, which you can watch at the end of this post.
Three Identical Strangers is a documentary about triplets who were separated at birth until they all met at the age 19. It is directed by Tim Wardle and features interviews with the subjects and their friends and family.
When Bobby Shafran went off to college, he had the strangest welcoming experience. Everybody was super friendly, saying hi to him as if they knew him, giving him pats on the back and welcoming him back to school. One girl even walked up and kissed him. But why are they calling him Eddy? Was this a prank or did he really have a doppelganger? One person finally asks him his birth date and whether he was adopted. Amazingly, the person they were mistaking him for turns out to be an identical twin brother he never knew he had. His name is Eddy Galland. They arrange to meet each other immediately. They tell their story to a newspaper and even more unbelievably there is yet another identical brother, David Kellman, who ends up recognizing himself in a photo of the twins.
The triplets became a media sensation and this comes off at first like a feel good story. Many people always wonder what it would be like to have an identical twin or discover a long lost brother or sister. Everyone can compare their similarities despite different experiences. The triplets have uncanny similarities, having the same mannerisms, smoking the same brand of cigarettes, and the same taste in women. All were once high school wrestlers. Of course a lot of people smoke marlboros and their wives don't look all that similar. Are mannerisms really the mark of identity, any more so than their physical similarities? Did those physical similarities just happen to make them all ideal athletes for the same sport? On closer examination, the brothers have turned out slightly different in weight. And about at this point the viewer is probably wondering why they are only interviewing two brothers.
This is not a feel good story. It is going to turn tragic and aggravating. I will not reveal all the details here. They were all adopted from the same adoption agency. They discover the agency never attempted to place the three of them together. In fact, there are other sets of twins, adopted through the same agency, with similar stories. When they meet the birth mother, they're a little worried to discover she's a heavy drinker, wondering what kind of mental health issues they might have inherited.
When you grow up your whole life thinking you are a unique individual, what happens to the sense of self when you meet an apparently identical person? This question isn't exactly addressed in the movie, but it was something I kept thinking about as the film addressed the influences of nature versus nurture. Genetically they are mostly identical. But are appearances the only thing that defines a person? They dress the same for interviews but they could express themselves as individuals if they wanted. But then again that is still just appearance, a layer on top. Your clothes aren't you. But if identity is grounded in nature, in genetics, the similarity in appearance makes one not appear to be an individual. We look at these similarities and ignore their differences. Their differences may be rooted in their nurture, in their upbringing. Of course it may be a blend of both. Each have some mental health issues to deal with and their different upbringings may explain the differences in personalities. Despite finding similar quirks, they started to see those personality conflicts when they tried living and working together.
Now I have to say that I was uncertain I would like this at first. This is not really my favorite style of documentary. It relies heavily on interviews with still photos for most of the b-roll. There is not a lot of archival film footage. It instead uses recreations of scenes with blurry images that avoid shots of the actors faces. I really prefer a documentary that has the actual documentation. Now, that's not to say a a documentary relying on present day interviews can't work. It just takes a skilled filmmaker and luckily the director knows how to tell a story. The key to a good interview-based documentary is to remember that the film is documenting the interviewee's current life as well as the past. The camera holds the shot and lets each brother's personality shine through. They are now in their 50s and have aged into very different people. They both have sadness and anger at what happened to them. The filmmaker conveys this anger to the audience.
It's a great documentary with an engaging story. It's told through interviews. It's good even for that style. It's not really any better to watch on a big screen so you can enjoy this all the same if you wait for it to be released on VOD. I'm sure it will be on Netflix in a couple months. So, I guess, both thumbs up, a bunch of stars. I don't really like rating movies.
This trailer is the property of Neon
