Three Identical Strangers

Most Americans old enough to remember the 1980s will be familiar with the story of the triplets separated at birth and adopted by different families who then, by sheer chance, found each other when they were 19 years old. However, most of the media coverage at that time and the endless round of TV chat shows that made instant celebrities of the identical-looking brothers, focused on the joy that everyone was getting from this extraordinary reunion, and not on the sinister reasons they had been split up in the first place.

This gripping new documentary from filmmaker Tim Wardle starts off with their joyous reunion, but then goes much deeper into how and why they were placed with the families who raised them. His findings are very disturbing, to say the least. The brothers - Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland, and David Kellman - were carefully put into three completely different social environments, with the families deliberately chosen by Jewish adoption agency Louise Wise Services. None of the new parents had any idea of the other two boys' existence.

As Wardle digs away at the story, he interviews Dr. Peter Neubauer, the psychologist who was behind the experimental study of which they were all unwitting participants. He also uncovers the stories of other twins that also had been separated at birth by the same adoption agency.

As the triplets grow into men, their initial euphoria at finding each other starts to wane; their different childhoods have impacted their attitudes to life in general, which finally has devastating consequences.

What is really disturbing is not just the shroud of secrecy Neubauer and Louise Wise wrapped around the project, but their reasons - which are never really revealed - of why they chose to play God in the first place and potentially ruin lives for the sake of their experiments. It's all very uncomfortable, and seems a tad too reminiscent of some of the experiments that infamous Nazi doctor Josepf Mengele conducted.

Now the brothers are embroiled in a long legal fight to get access to the official records of their past and the experiment, in hopes that they can expose the inequities of the situation and finally get some closure.

Wardle's empathetic take on it all makes for very compelling viewing and ensures that, like the brothers, you also will go through a whole gamut of emotions as this remarkable story unfolds.