Tell Me Who I Am, A Netflix Documentary Review

*I originally wrote this piece in 2020 as a submission for a project.

One of Netflix’s newest documentaries, Tell Me Who I Am, directed by Ed Perkins, explores the complicated bond between identical twins Marcus and Alex and allows the incredible story of their lives to unfold in a stunning and terrible mystery. For fans of true crime and the emotional jerk of Law & Order: SVU, the story of the Lewis twins will have you spellbound. Cutting between interviews of the two victims and their uncanny plights, the film is reminiscent of two other recent documentaries of similar subject matter, Leaving Neverland and Three Identical Strangers. Along with these two other docs, Tell Me Who I Am joins the ranks of the recent wave of excellent non fiction films that uncover not only terrible truths about childhood abuse and trauma, but the rarely examined vulnerabilities of men and the bonds of brotherhood. All of these stories share the unfortunate commonality that the perpetrators are dead, leaving no one to challenge the truth or get what they deserve. Instead the victims have no one left to tell but us, the audience in our entranced empathy for these men and their remarkable spirits. Shot in mostly dark shades to coincide with the dreary English countryside of the boys childhood home, the loveliest and most cheerful moment of the film comes in a spur of photographs that Alex took to create his new found memory. In a splash of color photos contrasted to the gloomy grey atmosphere of most of the film, Alex and Marcus are pictured with their friends in various shenanigans. Here we see the boys as they truly are - free, popular, bright, and effervescent. This cascade of color stands out as a significant montage because it shows the boys as not just victims of their terrible surroundings, but gloriously strong souls full of life and adventure. With a relentlessly taunting mystery at its heart, the film explores the complexities and intense bond that comes from not only being identical siblings, but sharing unspeakable tragedy. Beautiful and elegant in its simple look and flow, the story of these boys unravels before us in a graceful spiral of love, lies, and second chances.