Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard Movie Review (2023)

A true-crime drama about the real-life disappearance of a woman and her infant daughter, Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard is steadily paced, with a strong central performance, and a more grounded tone than expected.

Being the true-crime girlie that I am, I often find myself drawn to Lifetime movies. They are rarely good and always melodramatic, but, for some reason, I watch them time after time. Although, in my own defense, I had to watch Amish Stud based solely on the title. How can you not watch something called Amish Stud just to see what it is??

Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard centers around Heidi Broussard, a married woman who has just delivered a baby, and her best friend, Magen. Heidi’s baby has a medical issue, so both Heidi and her fiancé are watching her closely. Magen has come to town to visit Heidi and is struggling in her relationship with her boyfriend. When Heidi and the baby suddenly go missing, everyone is desperate to find them.

This is one of the best Lifetime movies I’ve seen, and it is because of the performance given by Emily Osment as Magen. Osment has made a name for herself since she was a child ballerina on a Friends Halloween episode, and currently stars in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. So, with her acting chops and the heavy focus on Magen’s story in this movie, it was better than I expected.

This is not to say that there aren’t glaring flaws. One of the lies that Magen tells her boyfriend is that she gave birth and they released her the same day. She walks and looks fine, the baby does not look like a newborn, and her boyfriend has a moment of doubt followed by a shrug of acceptance. I’m sorry, what?

There is still a heavy element of melodrama, with the soundtrack and camera angles, but this is a much more measured piece than any of the other Lifetime true-crime stories I’ve watched.

I can’t say that Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard is a good movie, because it’s not. But if you enjoy these silly dramatizations like I do, Osment is the reason to watch it.

Runtime: 86 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: TV-14

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Available: Free on Tubi, Hulu, and Netflix, to rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms