If you’ve seen the film Enemy, then you’ll probably remember that the character Jake Gyllenhaal plays unexpectedly sees someone who looks exactly like him. It might be a strange idea for a movie, but as Twinsters shows, it is something which can happen in real life. Actress Samantha Futerman receives a message through Facebook. Someone in France has seen a Youtube film and has sent it to his friend, Anais Bordier. The both think that Anais really looks a lot like Samantha and wants to get into contact with her. Samantha decides to agree and to film that. Thanks to a Kickstarter project she has managed to turn that material into a very fascinating documentary.
The first contact is through text messages and during their first Skype conversation the two really hit it off. Both are originally from South Korea, have been adopted around the same time and pretty much look-alike. The talk for hours and are convinced that they have to be twin sisters. Still they are not sure about this and decide to get into contact an expert on twins. She advises them to do a DNA test, but does mention that Sam has to remember that the result could say they aren’t family. Despite that risk the two ladies decide to meet up in London, where Anais is studying, before they get the result.
Twinsters really is a documentary of this time and actually shows their various ways of communication using Messenger and Skype, giving the film an intimacy. The girls quickly develop their own little language in which the word “pop” becomes central. Although their first meetup is a bit awkward, the bond quickly strengthens. Because both Sam as Anais are adopted they decide to head back to South Korea in the hope of finding more information about where they come from. There is a lot of laughter and there is a lot of enthusiasm, making this a real “feel good” documentary is. Despite the fact there are occasional serious moment the whole movie remains quite light. One I really recommend.
Just saw this one last week – like you say, it’s a nice, well put together feel good documentary. They did get a bit deeper into the feelings of adoption. And it was interesting to hear how both twins had radically different experiences growing up and how it felt to be adopted.
Yeah, really a nice watch and a good insight into the struggles of when you are adopted.