Changeling (2008)
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A mother's desperate search for her missing son leads her into a web of police corruption and a harrowing truth.
The story
In 1928 Los Angeles, single mother Christine Collins returns home to find her 9-year-old son, Walter, missing. While a local reverend rails against the police for their incompetence and corruption, the LAPD eventually claims to have found Walter alive in Illinois. However, Christine immediately realizes the boy is not her son. When she attempts to alert the authorities, she is branded as delusional and unfit, leading to her confinement in a psychiatric ward. The film follows her struggle against a corrupt system to prove the truth of her son's identity while navigating the dangers of the era's social and political landscape.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1928 Los Angeles, Christine Collins' son Walter goes missing. After months of searching, the LAPD presents a boy they claim is Walter. Christine recognizes the boy is an impostor, but the police pressure her to accept him, eventually committing her to a psychiatric ward for being 'delusional.' Meanwhile, a detective investigating a different case at a ranch in Wineville discovers a kidnapped boy, who reveals he was forced to help a man named Gordon Stewart Northcott kidnap and murder several children. It is revealed that the boy the police gave to Christine was actually Arthur Hutchins, a runaway. A lawyer, Sammy Hahn, takes Christine's case, leading to a public hearing where the truth of the police's 'Code 12' tactics and the Wineville murders is exposed. The court finds Northcott guilty and sentences him to death. In 1930, a dying Northcott refuses to confess to Christine, but is executed. In 1935, a survivor of the murders is found alive, giving Christine hope that her son might still be alive.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 142
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Clint Eastwood
- Writers
- J. Michael Straczynski · writer
- Cast and characters
- Angelina Jolie · Christine Collins; John Malkovich · Reverend Gustav Briegleb; Jeffrey Donovan · Captain J. J. Jones; Jason Butler Harner · Gordon Stewart Northcott; Amy Ryan · Carol Dexter; Michael Kelly · Detective Lester Ybarra; Geoff Pierson · Sammy Hahn; Colm Feore · Chief of Police James E. Davis; Reed Birney · Mayor George E. Cryer; Denis O'Hare · Doctor Jonathan Steele; Gattlin Griffith · Walter Collins; Devon Conti · Arthur Hutchins
- Genres
- crime; drama
- Themes
- child endangerment; female disempowerment; political corruption; mistreatment of mental health patients
- Tone and mood
- serious; dramatic
- Setting
- Los Angeles and rural California, 1928-1935
- Premise and plot tags
- true story; period piece; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- based on actual events, specifically the 1928 Wineville Chicken Coop murders
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, though general critical reaction was more mixed, with praise for acting and story balanced against criticism of staging and lack of nuance.
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Actress · nomination; BAFTA Award · Best Actress in a Leading Role · nomination; Critics' Choice Movie Award · Best Actress · nomination; Screen Actors Guild Award · Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role · nomination
- Production trivia
- The script was based on thousands of pages of documentation.; Ron Howard was originally intended to direct the film.; The film's setting was chosen for its 1920s period feel.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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