Twinsters
This movie’s not had a UK theatrical release as of yet. Hopefully its Netflix popularity is such that that situation shall be rectified.
While browsing for movies on Netflix, my younger cousin and aunt came across this documentary about two twins who were separated soon after birth and through social media found one another when they were 25. I am so grateful to them for finding it.
Like looking into a mirror.
It’s actually rather fitting that I was only able to hear about then watch this movie through a streaming service, since this is one of the best and most subtle tributes possible to the power of the information age in which we live in.
Samantha Futerman is a Korean-American actress, known for supporting roles in Memoirs of a Geisha and 21 & Over and various online videos. In 2013, she was contacted through Facebook by a French woman called Anaïs Bordier, who believed that they may be twin sisters. This film, co-directed by Futerman, chronicles in what feels like real-time, that fateful year in the lives of these two people.
Twinsters is infinitely fascinating. It is an examination in how something so impossible as this meeting can happen in the 21st century. At a time when almost all headlines regarding social media and the world wide web right now focus on the very real problems that can and have arisen in the brief period in which these things have been around, it is refreshing to me, as someone whose part of this bizarre revolutionary generation, to witness something uncomplicatedly miraculous and wonderful as this happen as a result of it.
I also find it compelling because I am deeply intrigued by the dynamic of female friendships, particularly between sisters and even more so by twins. This may partly be because I will never be twin sisters with anyone, no matter how much I wanted it, but it’s also because there is a divine beauty in the connection that people, and especially girls, can have with one another.
The final and most important reason that this movie is intriguing, is that these two women are infectiously likable! We get treated to an intimate view into these two which you don’t see very often when the media talks about my generation (these ladies are 9 years older than me and I feel that qualifies myself as part of their generation).
While I’ve been mentioning some pretty big issues so far in this review, regarding social media, generational divides, inter-female relationships etc, big issues aren’t the concern of Twinsters. Even when it touches briefly on the question “Why were these twins separated to begin with?” it doesn’t distract from the twins themselves as they learn about one another and begin to love one another.
These two never saw one another from birth till they were in their mid twenties, but they feel as close as if they lived together all that time. It’s something that at certain points had this hard-as-nails “film critic” crying.
The construction of this documentary is wonderful. I feel it captures the bouncy personalities of Sam and Anaïs in its style and execution. I very much hope for Futerman to get other projects through this one.
If I had one complaint, it would be that it felt like it ended a few times before the actual ending. That’s really a nitpick and the ending itself is so perfect that it makes me even more glad that the documentary of these events was released only 2 years after they happened.
I highly recommend Twinsters as it’s a moving and highly modern piece of documentary filmmaking. Good luck with everything Samantha. Bonne chance avec tout Anaïs.
Recommended Scenario: If you want to be moved by a happy story as it unfolds in real-time before your eyes.
If what I have written tells you that you would like this film, you can watch it on Netflix now.
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