In 1982, Alex Lewis, then 18 years-old, suffered a traumatic brain injury following a motorcycle accident. While he recovered physically, his entire memory was erased – except for one thing, one person. Alex, though he remembered nothing about himself, he recognized his twin brother, Marcus. Tell Me Who I Am is the story of the brothers remembering and coming to terms with the truth of their whole story.

Based on a book that the two wrote a few years back, this documentary unfolds in three parts. The first part is the story of Alex post-accident and how Marcus helped him to rebuild a sense of identity by ‘filling in the blanks’ for hm. The pair tell of how Alex had to be taught everything from how to dress himself to who his mother was to how to ride a bike, which, ironically he caught on to quite well.

The second part of the documentary reveals how the story Marcus reconstructed for Alex was not their full story. The truth of the full story is discovered in startling revelations that unleash a torrent of questions from Alex that Marcus cannot answer. Marcus has the answers but the truth, speaking it out loud, is more than he can bear. So silence stretches over the pain and the years.

Part three is a difficult conversation between the brothers where the truth is finally laid out. Piece by traumatic piece. Despite years of living and working side by side, the two never spoke of Alex’s questions, of his pain, of his sense of betrayal, by the one person, the only person, he knew from the start. They never spoke because of Marcus’ pain in remembering. But, in the end, they sat, face to face, to each other and with the truth.

It is impossible to give more information without giving up the tension that makes this documentary, in each measures, intriguing and disturbing. One should be warned that the twists are heavy and will stick with you long after the credits roll.

Tell Me Who I Am is a beautiful and brutal story full of raw honesty. It’s a story that has played out a million times in a variety of ways in fiction but rarely do we hear a true life telling like this. It is the reality of the story that makes it memorable and compelling. And hard to watch, at times. It is the true story, the real humans behind the story, that makes this an important story to hear.