DailyView: Day 271, Movie 381

Some documentaries tell a story that is so amazing that it is hard to believe that it is real, that it actually happened. Docs such as Three Identical Strangers, Tickled, The Imposter each told a tale that proves the old cliché true: Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. The 2019 Netflix documentary Tell Me Who I Am falls right in to that category.

Tell Me Who I Am started off with a terrible motorcycle accident that caused 18-year old Alex Lewis, twin brother of Marcus, to lose his memory. He remembered nothing, but he knew his twin. The connection between them was still there despite the amnesia.

Marcus began to help his brother by showing him photos and filling in the missing gaps in Alex’s memory of their childhood and his missing life. For fourteen years, this was they way their relationship went, with Marcus helping to create new memories of the old events.

However, when their mother died, a dark secret came out causing Alex to question everything that he had been told.

The entire film was basically Alex and Marcus speaking to the camera about their different lives developed and how the amnesia affected each other.

Most importantly, without revealing any details, you can see and feel the love these two men have for one another despite being separated with knowledge for years.

The doc was shot beautifully, adding to the tone and mood of the film. Director Ed Perkins creates a must see documentary that has some deeply painful information. If you like docs, this one is a worthy watch.