This is a great documentary about a twins, Marcus and Alex, now in their 50s. Alex had a motorcycle accident at 18. This led him to a coma. He forgot everything about himself when he woke up. The only one he recognized was Marcus. He had complete trust over Marcus and depended on him to re-learn about the world and his own past. But Marcus created a new past for him, which left out all the traumatic memories of the childhood sexual abuse by their mother and strangers that two of them had suffered until the age of 14.
Sexual abuse in childhood is a very traumatic and horrible experience. The tremendous pain and the shame can easily drown a person and leaves scars that are very very difficult to heal. Absolute admiration and applause for the immense courage of the twins. It is never easy to talk about one's own trauma, let alone in front of a TV camera. This documentary is shot in a very humane way, with three chapters 1. Alex 2. Marcus 3. Marcus and Alex that draws us into the inner worlds of Marcus and Alex and at the end see how they come together as a twins not only in DNA, but in spirit as well.
Marcus is the big brother who has to bear the painful secret all by himself in all these years. The incident was way beyond his capacities to cope and he had no choice but to bury it deep down and try to live as if nothing has happened. The secret, he said is a lie to both himself and to Alex so that they can live up a fantasy that they had a happy and normal childhood. But at 32, when questioned by Alex face to face and having to acknowledge the painful truth to him, Marcus knew that the fantasy of escaping from his horrible past no longer held up. On the other hand, Alex is relentless to know about his real past. He was not satisfied by a simple "yes" as the answer to the question of whether he was abused by his mother. He has to know the truth and who he really is in order to move on, even he senses that there is something dark and evil lurking beneath it.
As an audience, I can sense the struggles and the fear that the twins have to go through when the past is put on the table again. Yet, I am so moved by the choice they made at the end, which is courage, love and trust. I broke into tears when the two hugged each other after the revelation by Marcus and Alex said, " I have your back with me".
The recovery journey is never easy. But after taking this very bold step after so many years, the twins now have each other's back. For sure, they will face it together and the road will never be the same again.
Sexual abuse in childhood is a very traumatic and horrible experience. The tremendous pain and the shame can easily drown a person and leaves scars that are very very difficult to heal. Absolute admiration and applause for the immense courage of the twins. It is never easy to talk about one's own trauma, let alone in front of a TV camera. This documentary is shot in a very humane way, with three chapters 1. Alex 2. Marcus 3. Marcus and Alex that draws us into the inner worlds of Marcus and Alex and at the end see how they come together as a twins not only in DNA, but in spirit as well.
Marcus is the big brother who has to bear the painful secret all by himself in all these years. The incident was way beyond his capacities to cope and he had no choice but to bury it deep down and try to live as if nothing has happened. The secret, he said is a lie to both himself and to Alex so that they can live up a fantasy that they had a happy and normal childhood. But at 32, when questioned by Alex face to face and having to acknowledge the painful truth to him, Marcus knew that the fantasy of escaping from his horrible past no longer held up. On the other hand, Alex is relentless to know about his real past. He was not satisfied by a simple "yes" as the answer to the question of whether he was abused by his mother. He has to know the truth and who he really is in order to move on, even he senses that there is something dark and evil lurking beneath it.
As an audience, I can sense the struggles and the fear that the twins have to go through when the past is put on the table again. Yet, I am so moved by the choice they made at the end, which is courage, love and trust. I broke into tears when the two hugged each other after the revelation by Marcus and Alex said, " I have your back with me".
The recovery journey is never easy. But after taking this very bold step after so many years, the twins now have each other's back. For sure, they will face it together and the road will never be the same again.
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