Three Identical Strangers (2018)
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Three Identical Strangers Movie Review
Three Identical Strangers is a 2018 documentary film directed by Tim Wardle. It’s one of the best films of the year and one of the finest documentaries of all time.
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“When I tell people my story, they don’t believe it.
I guess I wouldn’t believe the story if someone else were telling it,
but I’m telling it and it’s true, every word of it“
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It follows three American triplets who have been separated from birth and accidentally find each other at nineteen years of age. They start to question their history and track down the adoption agency behind their adoption. It turns out that they were all part of a nature versus nurture experiment that was carried out on them and also some other identical twins without the adoptive parents’ knowledge or approval of it.
Yes, just listening to this story is mind-blowing. It’s such a crazy story that was made for movies and actually happened in real life which makes it all the more fascinating and unreal. It was perfect for a documentary and Tim Wardle directed it superbly. The movie also features amazing conversations and interviews which are all either insightful or moving which is what the interviews are supposed to elicit from the viewer.
The pacing is fantastic as well and the movie held my attention firmly throughout its short runtime. Its emotional investment is undeniable and some scenes are simply heartbreaking to watch, especially the suicide part of the film was beyond tragic.
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But the movie’s also very thrilling in a riveting sort of way. Yes, it’s conceptualized very much as a conspiracy thriller in its approach and execution and it worked splendidly because it’s thus all the more entertaining and cinematic. I was just incredibly intrigued and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and that novelty and importance of it never wore off for me.
Now is the time to analyze this movie thoroughly as, yes, Three Identical Strangers is by far one of the most sophisticated, fascinating and thought-provoking films of the entire year. One of its minor themes is the importance of parenting as evidenced by Eddie’s estranged, very different from himself father. It’s shown how important parenting is and how essential it is for parents to be at least somewhat similar or understanding at least of their children. Parenting undoubtedly is the most important part of the nurture argument and there is no denying its impact on any person in the world.
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Another debate we get here is the morality of this experiment. As it turns out from the interviews of the people involved in the experiment, they weren’t questioning themselves whether it was right or wrong as “it was the fifties and sixties” and that period was simply very different from today.
That’s a very important point as certainly throughout history societies change and what was acceptable before isn’t now and it’s even more relevant and truthful in this politically correct world today. But there’s no denying that this was simply unethical beyond any measure and they should be ashamed of themselves. It was a terrible thing they did and they seemed like genuine cinematic villains here which made the movie even more of a thriller than it already had been.
As for the triplets themselves, they are very likable and the interviews of the twins are very heartwarming throughout. The movie showcases how incredibly similar identical twins are, but also that they are still their own persons despite it seeming not like it at first. It’s also shown that separation anxiety is a real, horrible issue when it comes to the identical twins and it should be prevented at all costs.
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But by far the most important debate in Three Identical Strangers is the eternal nature versus nurture debate. This is why I personally love documentaries such as this one and not the political/economy ones as those are timely, but this one’s both unbiased and very much timeless as this question has been boggling humanity’s minds for centuries and it’s still going to remain unanswered for centuries to come. It’s by far the most ultimate question we have apart from the question of our existence.
The film actually does try to answer this difficult question which is why I applaud every single one of those people who did that. So basically it’s the same as I personally believe and that is the mix of the two. Nature is highly important and genetics is unbeatable. We definitely have our destiny when it comes to our genes already predetermined which is extremely unnerving when you think about it, but nurture and upbringing and your own choices are also crucial and you can thus change that predetermined path and make it your own destiny. It’s thus a very inspirational film in a way and I just loved that sentiment.
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The importance of parenting, the unethical practice of human studies and the eternal nature versus nurture debate are at the central stage of Three Identical Strangers, a film so powerful in its interviews and in what it has to say about each one of us that it becomes even inspirational in its ultimate sentiment. It’s a story unlike any other and the fact that it genuinely happened makes it even more crazy, disturbing, heartbreaking and fascinating. The movie’s conceptualized as a conspiracy thriller which made it even more impactful and riveting to watch throughout. It’s simply the most thought-provoking film I’ve seen in quite a while, it’s one of the unsung gems of this year and without a doubt this is one of best documentaries of all time.
