Three Identical Strangers is powerful documentary which tells the story of three triplets who were separated at birth only to discover they were part of a social experiment.
The documentary, which previewed at Sundance Film Festival, re-traced the mens lives and found they have been monitored since childhood.
However, the nature v nurture test made a significant impact on the brothers lives and ultimately ended in tragedy for one of the brothers.
What is the documentary about?
Robert Sharfran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman were in university in the US when they discovered they were long-lost siblings.
It started when Robert met his roommate, Michael Domitz, in New York, who was taken aback.
Michaels previous roommate Eddy Galland walked, talked, looked and acted exactly like Robert.
He had the same grin, the same hair, the same expressions — it was his double, Mr Domitz said.
It didnt take long for the pair to realise they were long lost brothers, who were both adopted at birth on July 12, 1961, in Long Island, New York.
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When their story was shared in a local paper, a third man – David Kellman who lived on Queens – came forward because he was also a spitting image of the pair.
They discovered they were all triplets, separated at birth as part of a social experiment looking into the impacts of nature vs nurture on a persons life.
The triplets all smoked the same brand of cigarettes, all loved Italian food and preferred older women, they found.
Once we got together, there was a joy that I had never experienced in my life and it lasted a really long time, Robert said.
The experiment, by New York psychiatrist Peter Neubauer, saw dozens of newborn twins and triplets separated and scattered in similar households to study the impact their upbringing would have on them.
The adoptive parents of each of the babies were never told the boys were separated triplets, only that their tot was part of a child development study.
More: Film review
The triplets were closely monitored throughout their lives, although the parents were unaware of the existence of the other siblings.
Once a year, each of the families took the boys to Manhattan for intelligence, behaviour and personality tests.
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Milestones in their lives, such as learning to talk and ride a bike, were filmed and logged.
Claire Kellman, Davids adoptive mum, revealed that he seemed to sense there was something missing.
In the documentary, she says: David began talking very early. I remember him waking up and saying “I have a brother”.
It later emerged all the boys exhibited symptoms of separation anxiety during infancy, but that only made sense in hindsight.
When the boys finally found each other, the families were furious, but there was no law against it.
They transferred to the same course at university and moved in together. They also worked together and eventually opened their own restaurant apprppriately named Triplets.
But their story was marred by tragedy.
Eddy, who suffered from depression, killed himself at the age of 33.
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Robert and David sold the restaurant and retrained as a lawyer and an insurance consultant.
The brothers say a family history of mental illness – which they later discovered – was withheld from their adoptive parents.
Until his death in 2008, Dr Neubauer insisted he had done the right thing, but today the two surviving brothers, now 56, say they were victims not participants.
How can you watch the documentary?
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The documentary was released in the US in April. It is released in UK cinemas today, Friday 30 November.
What about the DVD?
UK viewers can pre-order the DVD now, but it wont be available until 24 June 2019.
MORE: Tragedy of social experiment that saw triplets separated at birth
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