A Child of My Own

Based on a true story, A Child of My Own follows a woman so desperate to become a mother that she steals an infant. Director Maite Alberdi returns with a bold, inventive documentary that fuses dramatized sequences and first-person interviews to examine identity, ambition, and the weight of family pressures. At its center is Alejandra, a woman who longs to become a mother and, eager to meet the expectations of those closest to her, haplessly invents a pregnancy. What begins as a seemingly simple deception quickly spirals into a gripping story of secrets and shame. Intercutting dramatized scenes with reflections from the real-life subjects, Alberdi avoids easy judgment, inviting audiences into a deeply human, often unsettling narrative. A Child of My Own is a provocative, compassionate exploration of motherhood, desire, and the moral complexity that emerges when longing and obligation collide. —Jessie Fairbanks