Netflix’s Our Father: the chilling trailer for this new documentary reveals a true story of fertility and extreme breaches of trust

Our Father Netflix

Credit: Netflix

Under Her Eye


Netflix’s Our Father: the chilling trailer for this new documentary reveals a true story of fertility and extreme breaches of trust

By Morgan Cormack

3 years ago

1 min read

The trailer for Netflix’s Our Father has been released and the internet is already hailing it as one of the most bizarre true crime documentaries of the year. Here’s everything you need to know about it. 

In the world of Netflix documentaries, we’ve come to expect some pretty wild rides. From restaurateurs and immortality to scammers and cryptocurrency, the streaming platform has been serving up docuseries and films recently that have had us talking in a big way.

Now, though, a new trailer for an upcoming documentary has swept across the internet and we’re already counting down the days till Our Father lands on our screens.

The new Netflix documentary may just be the most perplexing and astounding series we’ve watched in a long time, not least because of how creepy it all is. Imagine learning that dozens of secret half-siblings have been growing up around you (in a 25-mile radius), but not only that – the web of siblings also reveals a much darker truth.  

Our Father Netflix

Credit: Netflix

As the synopsis for Our Father reads: “Jacoba Ballard was an only child, conceived via donor sperm, who always dreamed of having a brother or sister. An at-home DNA test led her to the discovery of not one but seven half-siblings – a number that defied best practices in fertility medicine.

“As the group set out to learn more about their curious family tree, they soon discovered the sickening truth: their parents’ fertility doctor had been inseminating his patients with his own sperm – without their knowledge or consent. As Ballard and her newfound siblings realised they’ve barely begun to untangle his dark web of deceit, their pursuit of justice lies at the heart of this profoundly unsettling story about an unimaginable breach of trust.”

And if that’s not enough to leave you suitably intrigued – and disgusted – watch the trailer for yourself here: 

In it, we follow unnamed people who are all revealing similar stories of DNA tests, family trees and research. One man explains how when he went on a popular ancestry website, he had “over 3,000 hits”.

Another woman says: “All of these random names were popping up and it said ‘close family’. We all matched the name Cline.”

And then a chilling revelation: “Dr Cline was the best infertility doctor in Indianapolis.”

As the trailer unfolds, we get a sense of all the similarities between these people – “most of us have blonde hair, blue eyes” – and, as one of the women states: “It was almost like this perfect Aryan clan, it’s disgusting.”

As the truth comes to light, many are angered over the fact that this continued for decades and nobody found out, while others are living with the very real consequences of having to tell many fathers that the children they thought were biologically theirs are actually Cline’s.

Our Father Netflix

Credit: Netflix

While Our Father is set to be a shocking documentary, the series also underlines the overarching truth of being a man in such a position of power. Cline was not only a doctor but was also hailed as a philanthropist and an elder in the church. Most shockingly, the documentary also explores how the case at hand is far more complicated in terms of legality.

As the attorney general states in the trailer: “I don’t deny that it was a sexual violation, but legally there’s just no crime that touches this particular act.”

It’s safe to say that the internet is already brimming with opinions over the investigative documentary but one thing’s for certain – we’ll all be tuning in:

The case definitely turned our stomachs but the documentary is set to be fascinating:

And let’s face it – Netflix documentaries never miss a beat:

We’re certainly counting down the weeks until we can watch this wild new docuseries:

Our Father will be available to stream on Netflix on 11 May.

Images: Netflix

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