Three Identical Strangers **** (2018, Eddy Galland, David Kellman, Robert Shafran) – Movie Review

Director Tim Wardle’s documentary biography Three Identical Strangers (2018) tells a fascinating, well-researched investigative story, as a happy accidental encounter in 1980 New York leading to a uniting of adult identical triplets separated at birth turns gradually sad and sour. The three young men were all placed by the same adoption agency and adopted by different families, who knew nothing about each other.

The three 19-year-olds are complete strangers when they discover they are triplets, and their joyful reunion rockets them to fame as media celebrities, but it unlocks a disturbing secret. Lifting the lid carefully, bit by bit, the tireless Wardle will reveal the why and the wherefore, at least all that can be possibly known so far of this well-hidden story.

Three Identical Strangers offers plenty of enjoyment factor and food for thought. The story unravels in satisfying layers, so further pre-knowledge of the story would spoil it. However, it is fair to say that the interesting moral of the story is that you could walk down the road, walk into a room, whatever, and there could be your exact double. And the theme of the story is the old one of nature versus nurture.

Eddy Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran are the three brothers.

Three Identical Strangers is a feature documentary for CNN Films, Channel 4 and the Sundance Institute. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.

Three Identical Strangers stakes its claim as one of the best documentaries of the year.

The triplets had a cameo in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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