The Imposter (2012)

The Imposter is a gripping, true-crime documentary about a baffling case of identity, deception and grief. The film follows the story of a young man in Spain who claims to a devastated Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for three years. What begins as a possible miracle slowly unravels into a disturbing tale of manipulation, secrecy and self-deception as investigators, journalists and family members try to verify the stranger’s story. If you watch the movie you’ll experience a carefully constructed blend of sit-down interviews, archival footage and stylized reenactments that build tension and unease. The documentary alternates between sympathetic portraits of a family desperate for answers and cold investigative detail that exposes contradictions and improbable coincidences. Viewers are drawn into moral ambiguity — feeling empathy, disbelief and revulsion in turn — as the film explores themes of identity, vulnerability and the ways people cope with loss. The pacing is suspenseful rather than action-driven, and the film leaves you thinking about truth, complicity and how easily reality can be bent by a convincing performance.

Actors: Adam O'Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson

Director: Bart Layton

Runtime: 99 min

Genres: Biography, Crime, Documentary

7.1 /10 77 /100 7.5 /10 7.4 /10