Film Review: The Imposter

Director: Bart Layton

Losing a child is always an upsetting and harrowing experience which in many cases is made worse as they simply vanish never to be seen again. In many ways this is worse because you will never know what happened to them and always cling on to some small hope that they might re-appear. For the family of Nicholas Barclay this appeared to happen over 3 years after he disappeared from San Antonio, Texas.

Frédéric Bourdin who impersonated the missing teenager Nicholas Barclay

As time moved on the reality turns out to be very different, the Nicholas Barclay that was found in Spain and claimed to have been abducted for a child sex ring that abused and raped him turned out to be 23 year old French/Algerian man who looked quite different (Nicholas would have been 16 at the time). Bourdin claims he never had a childhood and wanted to create an identity for himself but the biggest shock comes when the family accepts him and believes that he is their son. This is a story that you would dismiss as unbelievable if somebody had written it as fiction.

Frédéric Bourdin is a hugely manipulative character based on his interviews from the documentary, he is very convincing in making you feel sorry for him for having no childhood and being brought up in a family that didn't want him. You have to remind yourself that he is an serial liar and that his up-bringing is no excuse for his actions in adult life. On many occasions as the family members speak about Nicholas the camera will show a shot on Bourdin just smiling towards the camera which sends shivers down your spine.

Nicholas Barclay who went missing aged 13

The final section of the film produces some incredible twists that you just don't see coming, you expect it to be a simple case of Bourdin being caught by the FBI and that being a satisfying conclusion. What follows leaves many unanswered questions and really sticks in your mind as you walk out of the cinema. The family's readyness to accept him despite the huge difference in appearance and the doubts raised by local people including a private investigator and a forensic doctor. The whole film takes on a sombre and unsettling tone which sits through the entire film.

4/4 chilling, disturbing and all completely true