"Child of My Own" - A Revolutionary Mix of Fact and Fiction

Known for her unconventional filmmaking style, Chilean director Maite Alberdi continues to blend fact and fiction in her most recent work, "A Child of My Own (Un hijo propio)". Based on a real-life news story from the early 2000s, the narrative is set for the first time in Mexico and presents actual interviews from the event interwoven with dramatized re-enactments. The main character, Alejandra, is a hospital administrator who feigns pregnancy to fulfill her maternal desires and silence persistent family pressures.

Differing from regular documentary scenes, Alberdi avoids predictable reconstructions and instead, employs an effective narrative approach, strengthened by a captivating performance from lead actress Ana Celeste Montalvo Peña.

The film adopts a comparable method to Kitty Green's "Casting JonBenet", beginning with various actors auditioning for the lead role and illustrating Ale's convoluted character within a few minutes. The plot then proceeds to narrate Alejandra and her husband Arturo's darkening circumstances.

The tale further unfolds through a mix of actual and fabricated events that show Ale's life journey from her wedding day to the challenging pressure from the family to conceive a child. These pressures compound after Ale suffers multiple miscarriages leading her to meet a regretful pregnant woman, Mayra, in a hospital. Ale suggests adopting Mayra's unwanted child to which she surprisingly assents.

The plot spirals into a saga of deception, with Ale faking a pregnancy and going to great lengths to maintain the charade, including altering her physical appearance, abstaining from intimacy with Arturo, and fabricating hospital records. However, the grand illusion shatters in a few dramatic days.

Without revealing too much and spoiling the film's inherent suspense, the projection deserves credit for fittingly encapsulating the real characters' personas while maintaining an undercurrent of unreality. Director of Photography Sergio Armstrong, with his team, curates a distinctive aesthetic with striking visuals to enhance the plot's disorientation, with the documentary's production value respectful to the subjects and bridging the gap between fact and fiction.