Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning documentary on identical triplets reunited at age 19 and the dark secret behind their initial separation.
"New York, 1980: Three complete strangers — Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland, and David Kellman — make the astounding discovery that they are identical triplets. Separated at birth, adopted, and raised by three different families, the 19-year-olds are reunited by chance. Their story sets the tabloids on fire, and the triplets suddenly become famous around the world. The brothers forge a relationship and become fast friends. They move in together in a swinging bachelor pad and open a restaurant that skyrockets to success. The toast of Manhattan, the triplets are living the high life. But their fairy-tale reunion sets off a chain of events that ultimately unearths an extraordinary and sinister secret that could answer controversial questions at the heart of human behaviour." (Sundance Film Festival)
Winner of the Special Jury Prize (Documentary), 2018 Sundance Film Festival
Like many documentaries, to divulge too much of the subject matter of Three Identical Strangers, returning after wowing festival audiences, would diminish its impact. Suffice to say, this tale of identical triplets reunited after being adopted out to three different families—their connection to one another unbeknownst to parents and kids alike—packs more punches than simply the novelty factor that made momentary celebrities out of the three young men in question.
A gripping, stranger-than-fiction account of a real-world medical conspiracy, the film begins as a human-interest story and builds to an impressive work of investigative journalism into how and why they were placed with the families who raised them.
Three Identical Strangers does a solid job laying out a story that's both remarkable and repulsive in equal measures, a window into the peculiar bonding of twins that holds appeal for the same reasons that inspired the medical research in the first place.
This is a strange, ultimately quite distressing story touched by tragedy, told by Wardle with great skill and compassion in a brisk, consistently absorbing package.
This is a strange, ultimately quite distressing story touched by tragedy, told by Wardle with great skill and compassion in a brisk, consistently absorbing package.
Three Identical Strangers is shocking, thrilling, and wildly entertaining, but it's also incredibly moving, leaving a lasting impression that you won't easily shake. I have a feeling this is a film we're going to be talking about for a long time to come.
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