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Stranger in My Family review – the moving tale of a DNA test that upended a life

This heartfelt documentary follows Luke Davies as he goes on a fascinating journey of heritage, family and love – and inadvertently takes his mum to the place he was conceived

With a title like that, Stranger in My Family carries the whiff of an airport-bookshop thriller, or a true-crime podcast, or one of those Harlan Coben-type Netflix series stuffed with vaguely recognisable faces who make terrible decisions at every turn. Surprisingly, it turns out not to be any of those things, but rather an emotionally intelligent and affecting one-off documentary about identity and belonging. Luke Davies is a 30-year-old man who grew up in Rochdale, thinking that his parents were his biological parents, and that he was white – until he did a DNA test to trace his heritage, and found far more questions than he did answers.

Luke is clearly close to his mum and dad, Liz and Gary, both of whom appear throughout this film. Their son is a credit to them, and whenever they sit down to chat with him, they seem thoroughly lovely and understanding. But, Luke says, he always felt a little different. At 18, he came out as gay, thinking that might be what had been needling him. His parents were very supportive. Still, the feeling of difference persisted. Like millions of people, he sent off a DNA test to find out more about his roots; he says he assumed it would come back saying what he thought he knew already.

Stranger in My Family aired on BBC Three and is on iPlayer

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vXPFMne
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