Netflix’s A Child of My Own chronicles a haunting crime Egyptian viewers will be quite familiar with

📺 How far would you go in the face of mounting familial and societal pressure? In one of Netflix’s latest documentaries, it seems the answer is this: too far. A Child of My Own, directed by Maite Alberdi — the first female Chilean Oscar nominee — follows one woman whose lie spirals into something much, much bigger.

What to expect: Alejandra (played by Ana Celeste) is a newlywed with her entire life ahead of her. Her marriage, however, proves to be rocky from the get-go. Ale suffers three back-to-back miscarriages amidst mounting pressure from her husband and in-laws to bear a child — each miscarriage brings forth more and more blame, and Ale just can’t take it anymore. At her wit’s end, she fakes a pregnancy, and as the lie lingers, she kidnaps a newborn and claims her as her own.

💡If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is — the story is almost identical to the 2026 Ramadan hit, Hekayet Narges. Read our full review here.

What we liked: A Child of My Own isn’t your average documentary. Alberdi pulls out all the stops, and the 90-minute production delivers on many fronts. The documentary is essentially split into two halves; the first being a feature film utilizing actors to re-enact the marriage, the miscarriages, and the subsequent crime; the latter half features a series of interviews with the real Ale, her partner, the kidnapped baby’s mother, and officials involved in the case.

The film often breaks the fourth wall, with actors stepping out of character to converse with the filmmakers on set — an interesting choice that conveyed the heaviness behind portraying a story as haunting as this one. Alberdi doesn’t rely on cheap soundtrack effects or dramatic cuts, which we appreciated.

The verdict: A Child of My Own is a deeply immersive watch that will keep you on the edge of your seat — even if you’ve re-watched Hekayet Narges more times than you’d like to admit. The documentary is in Spanish, but Netflix offers English dubbing. If you’ve had a long day at work and could use a watch that does more than fulfil its duties as background noise, you’ll want to tune in to this one.

WHERE TO WATCH- A Child of My Own is streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:14).