Rating: Rent It

A changeling, according to folklore, is the offspring of a troll, fairy or an elf deviously left in place of a human child. Before you go off thinking that this film includes fairies, take into consideration that this movie is based on a true story that took place in Los Angeles in 1928.

Putting fairies and trolls out of mind, Clint Eastwood directs while Angelina Jolie, starring as Christine, shows off a tender, emotional and feminine side rarely seen in any other movies she has ever performed in. Christine finds her son missing when she comes home from work and desperately searches all over the country for him, getting the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) involved. After five months, her son is found, but, as Christine comes to find out, the boy isn’t her real son, and no one believes her. Christine is trapped between the corruptions of the LAPD and the oppressive, sexist behavior that was prevalent in the late ’20s.

Even though Jolie portrays her character extraordinarily well, the movie is so serious and intense for the entire two hours and 22 minutes that there is no time to lighten up. However, keep in mind that this movie is meant to portray reality in the past. If you can’t get enough from watching Law and Order or if you want to see how brutal a real psychopath (unlike Michael Myers, Freddy and Jigsaw) can be, this is the movie to see. Since I am a bit queasy with gory movies, I’m thankful that Eastwood chose not to show the complete details of hacking children with an ax.

Nothing exciting, nothing new, nothing spectacular — it’s a fact that happened, a reminder of how dehumanizing humans can be — but it is also a reminder that one should never give up hope. “It’s all a true story,” scriptwriter J. Michael Straczynski told Time. “Every bit of it. We wanted to go from ‘based on a true story’ to ‘a true story’ in the credits.”

Changeling is currently out on DVD.