One Saturday night, while browsing Amazon Prime Video for a movie to watch, I stumbled across Three Identical Strangers, and knew right away that I had to watch it.
The 2018 film directed by Tim Wardle follows the story of three men in Metropolitan New York who find out that they are triplets who were separated at birth. The three of them were adopted and grew up a mere 100 miles apart, never interacting or meeting one another. Coincidentally, two of them, Bobby and Eddy, ended up at the same community college. When their friends realize that Bobby looks strikingly similar to Eddy, the two meet up and realize that not only do they have the same birthday, but that their appearances are nearly identical.
When a local newspaper hears about their story, the boys are featured on the front page of the paper. A third man, David, sees the paper and realizes that he is one of the three identical triplets.
Elated by their discovery, the three boys take to the streets of New York City, appearing on TV shows and at comedy clubs. The three brothers star in a movie together and eventually, open a steakhouse.
Despite their newfound money and fame, the triplets struggle with their mental health. Tension between them grows and they begin to question their pasts: how did they end up separated, and why?
The movie is constructed from interview clips with the boys’ family members and the two surviving brothers, David and Bobby. Mixed in is uncovered footage from their childhoods and clips from the trio’s time on television. The filmmakers could not find footage for every aspect of the plot, so there are scenes filmed with actors posing as David, Eddy, and Bobby. .
I thought the plot was quite engaging. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, a twist came out of nowhere, and kept me hooked. To me, the most interesting part of the movie was that it is a true story.
I highly recommend watching this movie. Although it is not a light movie, I found it to be both entertaining and thought provoking. Be aware of some mature themes such as addiction and violence, though nothing graphic is shown on camera.