My Mom Jayne is a tender, loving exploration by Mariska Hargitay into her famous mother Jayne Mansfield’s life and relationships. Jayne Mansfield died in a car accident when Mariska was only three. Jayne was 34.

My Mom Jayne was written and directed by Mariska Hargitay. It’s perfectly constructed, touching, revealing, full of love and previously unknown secrets. It’s one of the most moving things I’ve ever watched and earned a rare 10/10 rating from me on IMDb.

Mariska thinks she remembers her mom touching her hair when she was eating a bowl of cereal as a child. But she has no other memories of her own of her mother. She grew up embarrassed by her mother’s pinup girl reputation and sex kitten voice in public. Now, at age 60, Mariska is finally ready to look back at her mother and her relationship with her mother, troubling and brief as it was.

There are literally thousands of news articles and photos of Jayne Mansfield. Lots of photos of her with her three husbands, including Mickey Hargitay. Mariska had a whole storage unit full of memorabilia saved by the family. Photographs, keepsakes, a Golden Globe, and all kinds of material. She was ready to sort through it and share her thoughts and reflections as she examined all of it. She was ready to understand her place in the family and in her mother’s life.

She called together her siblings to share some of their memories with her. Her oldest sibling Jayne Marie Mansfield remembers their mother best. She was born when Jayne was very young. Mariska’s brothers Zoltan Hargitay and Mickey Hargitay Jr. both spoke about their memories.

Mariska also talked to her step mother, Mickey Hargitay’s second wife. She talked to a man who had done PR for her mom and wrote a tell-all book about it. The book revealed some secrets Mariska didn’t feel were his to tell. She acknowledges them for the first time in the documentary.

The way Mariska Hargitay put this story together is an impressive work of love and art. It was so thoughtfully and tenderly constructed. She cut back and forth between the present and scenes from the past – Jayne doing interviews, Jayne at home with the children.

To the outside world, Jayne was a dumb blonde but she was actually smart. She spoke several languages, played both violin and piano, and desperately wanted to be a serious actress. Instead she had to put up with a lot of sexist crap from interviewers like Jack Parr.

I think this documentary is a must watch, if for no other reason than to see how brilliantly Mariska Hargitay directed her family’s story.

My Mom Jayne is available on Max.