“Family is what you make of it. There is no definition.” – Samantha Futerman
On November 19th, 1987, a baby girl was born in Korea. The circumstances surrounding her birth are unknown, but what is known is that the child’s mother was not able to care for her. Four months later, this Korean baby became a Jersey girl as she was adopted into an American family. From then on, she was a typical American girl with parents, two brothers, and an unmistakable Jersey attitude.
Fast forward, and this beautiful girl has become the epitome of the American dream. She is an actress and director, having been spotlighted in movies such as Memoirs of a Geisha and 21 and Over. She lives in California, has lots of projects in the works, and is happy.
In a single day, her world is turned upside down by a Facebook message from a friend. Her friend had received a Facebook message from Anais Border, a young woman who was living in London but had grown up in France. Anais explained that she had a friend who had seen a Youtube video of Sam and thought the girl in the film looked eerily like her friend Anais. The friend linked the video to Anais, who did some searching, saw the 21 and Over promo, searched the name of her doppleganger, and realized that they had the same birthdate. After Sam’s friend messaged Sam, Sam and Anais begin to communicate through social media.
Because of the actor and director in Sam, she immediately began to chronicle this amazing story. Twinsters is Sam’s documentary of her journey from being the only girl in a family to not only having a sister but an identical twin.
Twinsters is both funny and emotional. Sam does not hold back her feelings, and the viewer is transported into being a firsthand witness of Sam’s excitement, fear, and nervousness as she discovers a part of herself that she never knew existed. The film demonstrates that adoptees have a thirst for knowledge of their own personal histories, and of their birth mothers, even though both Sam and Anais had loved and been loved by their families. The film showcases the different experiences of adoptees—one for whom adoption was always positive and one who struggled because people outside of her family said that she must not have been wanted or loved.
Not only does the film showcase a love of adoption, it also gives us a glimpse into the world of fostering. Both Anais and Sam were fostered by loving women prior to their adoptions. In this film, we are able to witness not only the the girls reuniting with each other, but also of their reunions with the women who cared for them as babies before they found their forever families. The reunions continue as both Sam and Anais’ families meet their new daughter and sister.
Ultimately, this is a movie about the love of family. Samantha said it best when she said, “It’s crazy to unconditionally love someone that you’ve never met.”
Because of some brief strong language, this movie may not be appropriate for some viewers, but for anyone with a tie to the adoption triad, this movie is a must-see.
This film is “proof of love and people caring.” – Anais Bordier
