Introduction:

In 1928 Los Angeles, single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) returns home to discover her nine-year-old son, Walter (Griffith), is missing. Reverend Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich) publicizes Christine’s plight and rails against the Los Angeles Police Department for its incompetence, corruption and the extrajudicial punishment meted out by its “Gun Squad”, led by Chief James E. Davis (Feore). Several months later, Christine is told her son has been found alive. A public reunion is organized by police, who believe the positive publicity will negate recent criticism of the department. Although “Walter” (Conti) claims to be Christine’s son, she says he is not. Captain J. J. Jones (Donovan), the head of the department’s Juvenile Division, insists the boy is Walter and pressures Christine into taking him home “on a trial basis”.

After Christine confronts Jones with physical discrepancies between “Walter” and her son, Jones arranges for a doctor to visit her. He tells Christine that “Walter” is shorter because trauma has shrunk his spine and that the man who took Walter had him circumcised. A newspaper story appears implying Christine is an unfit mother. Briegleb tells Christine the story was planted by police to discredit her. He tells her of the corruption rife in the department, and of the Gun Squad’s despotic rule over the city’s streets. Walter’s teacher and dentist give Christine signed letters confirming “Walter” is an impostor. Christine tells her story to the press; as a result, Jones sends her to Los Angeles County Hospital’s “psychopathic ward”. She befriends inmate Carol Dexter (Ryan), who tells Christine she is one of several women who were sent there for challenging police authority. Dr. Steele (O’Hare) deems Christine delusional and forces her to take mood-regulating pills. Steele says he will release Christine if she admits she was mistaken about “Walter”; she refuses.