Harrowing moment brother finds out twin was hiding horrific secret about their childhood he had no idea about
A Netflix documentary tells the heartbreaking story of twin brothers, Alex and Marcus Lewis, who grew up in the UK. In 1982, when Alex was 18 years old, he was in a serious accident that left him in a coma for three months. When he woke up, he had lost almost all of his memories—except for remembering his twin brother, Marcus.
After the accident, Marcus tried to help Alex rebuild his life by teaching him basic things again, like where they ate, where they slept, and even how to tie his shoes. He painted a picture of a happy childhood and a normal family. For decades, Alex believed this version of their past.
Nearly 40 years later, the truth came out. In the 2019 Netflix film *Tell Me Who I Am*, viewers watch as Alex finally learns the dark secret Marcus had been hiding: the brothers were victims of horrific abuse during their childhood. Their own mother, along with other adults she allowed, sexually abused them and passed them around to others. The abuse went on until they were about 12 to 14 years old.
Marcus admitted that he had hidden the truth to protect Alex after his accident. He said he wanted to give his brother “the gift of not knowing” because he believed revealing the abuse back then would have emotionally destroyed him. Marcus explained, “If it were the other way around, I would expect him to do the same.”
For Marcus, hiding the past was also a way to escape it. “Alex lost his memory by accident, and I lost mine voluntarily,” he said, meaning he tried to block it out to survive.
The documentary captures the painful moment when Alex finally learns what really happened, but it also shows how the brothers went on to live their lives. The director, Ed Perkins, said it took three years to earn their trust before filming, and there were times the brothers almost quit the project.
Today, both Alex and Marcus are fathers and husbands. Despite everything they endured, they refuse to let their past define them, and their story, while tragic, ends with a sense of hope and resilience.
