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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Three Identical Strangers (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
A bizarre tale with a dark twist.
I finally got to see Tim Wardle‘s documentary “Three Identical Strangers” last week…. just a few days before it gets shown on Channel 4 in the UK (9pm, Thursday 28th Feb 2019)! This is a short post giving you a heads-up of an instruction: WATCH IT! IT’S AMAZING!
An extraordinary story.
We start with Robert Shafran as a freshman who spends his first day at a small and anonymous college on the outskirts of New York. It’s a strange experience: the friendliest college ever! The blokes hug him like an old friend; girls come up to him and kiss him on the lips! This triggers a series of encounters that will change his life and that of two other “Identical Strangers” forever.
You will be able to find more details in other reviews online. But this is a dish best served cold so I will leave it there.
So it’s a 20 minute film?
It’s all wrapped up after 20 minutes. Or so you think. For the documentary starts to peel back layers of intrigue that go to far darker places than you would ever think possible. Again, to say more would provide spoilers.
As a criticism though, there is a point where I felt the film overstretched itself; reaching for a conclusion that didn’t seem to be born out by the facts (however hard the filmmaker tried to concoct them). That’s a shame, since there is more than enough to fill 90 minutes.
But no Oscar nomination?
Given how powerful (and well-regarded) the documentary is it’s surprising the film didn’t make the Oscar nomination (it made the 15 film shortlist but no more).
But it’s well worth catching: a tale that almost defies belief.
An extraordinary story.
We start with Robert Shafran as a freshman who spends his first day at a small and anonymous college on the outskirts of New York. It’s a strange experience: the friendliest college ever! The blokes hug him like an old friend; girls come up to him and kiss him on the lips! This triggers a series of encounters that will change his life and that of two other “Identical Strangers” forever.
You will be able to find more details in other reviews online. But this is a dish best served cold so I will leave it there.
So it’s a 20 minute film?
It’s all wrapped up after 20 minutes. Or so you think. For the documentary starts to peel back layers of intrigue that go to far darker places than you would ever think possible. Again, to say more would provide spoilers.
As a criticism though, there is a point where I felt the film overstretched itself; reaching for a conclusion that didn’t seem to be born out by the facts (however hard the filmmaker tried to concoct them). That’s a shame, since there is more than enough to fill 90 minutes.
But no Oscar nomination?
Given how powerful (and well-regarded) the documentary is it’s surprising the film didn’t make the Oscar nomination (it made the 15 film shortlist but no more).
But it’s well worth catching: a tale that almost defies belief.