In Utero

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“In Utero” provides a thought-provoking exploration of the question “What makes us who we are, and how early do we become so?” As recently as the 1960s it was standard to perform surgeries on infants without anesthesia, the rationale being they would not remember — and thus be affected by — the experience. With increased awareness of infant development, however, that practice has fallen off, but recent research suggests that our understanding of how external forces can affect the growing child needs to be rolled back even further to the prenatal period. It’s becoming clearer that the growing fetus, intaking nourishment and protection from its mother, absorbs her difficulties as well. As our modern world piles stress and anxieties upon us, harm is passed down through generations — ever more people find themselves ill-fit for life’s obstacles, seeking such hollow fixes as drugs, gambling, and consumerism to ease the dissatisfaction they’ve always felt but could never explain. As the film’s range of scientific experts explain, the first step to ensuring a healthy, loving life for our children is securing one for the women who bear them.