History Film / Changeling

* MeaningfulEcho: "Fuck you... and the horse you rode in on.", said by both whatsherface and that one guy.

* [[AmbiguousSituation Ambiguous Ending]]: [[spoiler: Walter is not returned to Christine... but in the epilogue, one of Northcott's escaped victims has been found. He says that both he and Walter escaped from their prison, but were separated in the dark. Maybe Walter was recaptured by Northcott, maybe he got away.]]

* KidsAreCruel: The fake Walter, Arthur Hutchens, agreed to go along with deceiving a grieving mother by posing as her son in return for seeing his favorite actor Tom Mix. He knows full well what he's doing and [[SmugSnake smugly]] tells officers upon interrogation he's off the hook since he's 'just a kid' ([[CrowningMomentOfAwesome though Detective Ybarra is perfectly willing to call a bluff on that]]).

* LackOfEmpathy: And how.
* MeaningfulEcho: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "Fuck you... and the horse you rode in on."]]

* PeriodPiece

* HopeSpot / ForegoneConclusion: Christine's initial belief that her son has been found alive and well. It occurs twenty minutes into a 3 hour movie, so...yeah.

* ShownTheirWork: Straczynski did particularly intensive research to ensure that he could legally subtitle the film "A true story" rather than "Based on a true story." He ended up drawing on over 6,000 pieces of documentation on the case.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Based on the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, also known as the Wineville Chicken Murders.

* KarmaHoudini: Dr Steele, though forced to release Christine and all other falsely instated women, does not seem to face any reprecussions for his horrific treatment of his patients, and for all we know is still torturing some poor souls by the closing of the story.

* KnightTemplar: Jones wants to uphold the good name of the police force, even if it means deceiving victims and using horrific methods to silence those in his way. Even as he is tried and has his crimes placed in front of him in court, he is still insistant that Christine shouldn't have interfered. Although this is open to AlternateCharacterInterpretation. He could simply be covering up his own incompetence.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: We learn what happens to the main characters.

''Changeling'' is a film written by J. Michael Straczynski (''Series/BabylonFive'') and directed by ClintEastwood (''MillionDollarBaby''). It was distributed in 2008 by {{Universal}} Pictures, and stars AngelinaJolie (''{{Salt}}''), John Malkovich (''BurnAfterReading''), and Jeffrey Donovan (''BurnNotice'').

* KarmaHoudini: The film's epilogue fails to mention that following his demotion, Chief Davis was rehired to the police force just two years later.
** Also Dr Steele, though forced to release Christine and all other falsely instated women, does not seem to face any reprecussions for his horrific treatment of his patients, and for all we know is still torturing some poor souls by the closing of the story.

* LackOfEmpathy: And how. [[FridgeHorror Made all the more disturbing by the fact]] it is based on a true story.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Northcott sings Silent Night when he's being hung.

* AdultFear

* VillainousBreakdown: Northcott completely falls apart as he's led to the noose, demanding that he not be marched to it so fast and that he be allowed to touch every step on the way up.

* VillainousBreakdown: Northcott completely falls apart as he's led to the noose, demanding that he not be marched to it so fast and that he be allowed to touch every step on the way up.

''Changeling'' is a film written by J. Michael Straczynski (''{{Babylon 5}}'') and directed by ClintEastwood (''MillionDollarBaby''). It was distributed in 2008 by {{Universal}} Pictures, and stars AngelinaJolie (''{{Salt}}''), John Malkovich (''BurnAfterReading''), and Jeffrey Donovan (''BurnNotice'').

* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: Gordon Northcott claims he did not Kill Walter and that Christine is accusing him of a crime he did not commit just like the police did to her. He is right, though that still doesn't excuse killing 20 other boys.]]

!!This film contains examples of:

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Subverted hard by [[spoiler: Gordon Northcott. As he's led to the noose, he becomes increasingly pathetic.]]

Not to be confused with the 80s film, ''TheChangeling'', or the RPG ''[[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changeling: The Lost]]''. For ''the trope'', see ChangelingTale. For the ''happy version'', see ChangelingFantasy.

* KidsAreCruel: The fake Walter, Arthur Hutchens, agreed to go along with deceiving a grieving mother by posing as her son in return for seeing his favorite actor Tom Nix. He knows full well what he's doing and [[SmugSnake smugly]] tells officers upon interrogation he's off the hook since he's 'just a kid' ([[CrowningMomentOfAwesome though Detective Ybarra is perfectly willing to call a bluff on that]]).

* HopeSpot/ForgoneConclusion: Christine's initial belief that her son has been found alive and well. It occurs twenty minutes into a 3 hour movie, so...yeah.

* Hope Spot: Christine's initial belief that her son has been found alive and well. It occurs twenty minutes into a 3 hour movie, so...[[ForegoneConclusion yeah]]

When she cleans the boy up after arriving home that evening, Christine's suspicions are confirmed: Not only is this boy circumcised when her son was not, but he is also ''3 inches shorter'' than Walter. When she reports this information to Jones, however, he refuses to listen. Unwilling to accept that they have made a politically embarrassing mistake after the Rev. Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich) has released a series of scathing radio broadcasts bringing the LAPD's criminal activities to light, the police inform her in no uncertain terms that the strange boy is Christine's son, and that the case is now closed. As Christine grows increasingly more desperate in her attempts to find someone, ''anyone'', who will help her find her real child, she quickly learns that Jones and the LAPD will do absolutely anything to keep her from telling her side of the story.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TrueBlood Russell Edgington]] was a psychiatrist before becoming a vampire King. And if that's how [[BurnNotice Michael Western behaved, no wonder he got burned.]]