Secrets & Lies

R

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2 hr. 22 min.

Drama

List

96%

45 Reviews

Tomatometer

91%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a successful black eye doctor, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to a lower-class white woman, Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn). At first Cynthia denies the claim, but she eventually admits to birthing Hortense as a teenager, and the two begin to bond. However, when Cynthia invites Hortense to a family barbecue, Cynthia's already tense relationship with her family becomes even more complicated.

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Critics Consensus

Secrets & Lies delves into social issues with delicate aplomb and across-the-board incredible acting, and stands as one of writer-director Mike Leigh's most powerful works.

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Tonatiuh C

Muy divertida con excelentes actuaciones, me recordó el estilo de ken loach

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

Full Review

Sara A

This film is brilliant in the way it jumps from scenes with different characters with no apparent connection never losing my interest and building my fascination. Ordinary people doing ordinary things is new. It seems unscripted. Each character is strong in his unique ordinariness. Timothy Spall is my favorite in his ability to deliver a man with feelings and humor.Brenda Blethyn walks a very thin line of emotional outburst that could have failed but didn't. She delivers the most dramatic tour de force that brought a burst of tears. Everyone should see this film for many reasons. I think it can change lives.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/15/23

Full Review

Kevin L

I don't think there's a director alive (maybe past, even) who could get better performances out of his actors. He may have his equal(s), but I can't think of one better. All the major players are terrific, but it's Brenda Blethyn's Cynthia that is the singular performance here. She may be a bit too weepy at times, but she owns it. All she wants is the best for everyone, even if she gets so little back for it. In Blethyn's skilled work we also see the sweetness, the decent person with all the regrets, and we hope that she can eventually find joy in the shocking news she gets that drives most of the film. I can think of other stand out performances from his films- David Thewlis in Naked; Lesley Manville in "Another Year", so much like Cynthia; Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky". It's such a testament to his approach to filmmaking where he works separately with each cast member, improvising and honing in on each character before a script is finished and shooting begins. As the other cast members separately meet to set their relationships in the movie context, they are all comfortable and confident in who they are in the movie and how it will all tick. Indeed, secrets & lies are issues that can turn a few sparks into emotional ragers; along with fears, insecurities, and the unknown suddenly revealed. As it's a Mike Leigh film, we get all this from a tightly focused collection of actors portraying the most regular, frumpy and dumpy, bright n' cheery lot you can imagine. And it's magic...again. Though I'm not sure it needed the Stuart bit. Cheers to the fantastic Timoth Spall- always effortlessly locked in; Marianne Jean-Baptiste; Phyllis Logan, and Claire Rushbrook. Berrington's a pleasure as Jane as well. So grand how she tells Spall's Maurice she wishes she'd had a father like him, cuz he's 'lovely'. He is. I love the shot among the tenement buildings as Hortense first drops off Cynthia. Great stuff, that. And great stuff "Secrets & Lies" is. Took a bit for me to settle into it, and as I said, it's a weeper. But it's also pure Leigh, with another slice of the meat n' potatoes of humanity; of British citizenry just trying to make it to another day, another year. 4 stars

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/15/23

Full Review

Chris K

Refreshingly shattering.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Gerard W

Recently watched for the first time since seeing at the cinema maybe 25 years ago and Mike Leigh's movie stands up so well - fantastic performances and direction: at times painful, at others hilarious to watch as the secrets and lies of one family unravel - but always moving. Real human relationships captured on screen.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/11/22

Full Review

tom m

It was entertaining enough, but I'm not quite sure why it is so highly rated. I found the story a bit slow and plodding. It took way to long to reveal most plot points. As a consequence the film was a lot longer than it need to be. Ultimately, the story was interesting, but somewhat dissatisfying as it left certain story elements undisclosed.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Mike Leigh

Director

Timothy Spall

Maurice Purley

Brenda Blethyn

Cynthia Rose Purley

Phyllis Logan

Monica Purley

Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Hortense Cumberbatch

Claire Rushbrook

Roxanne Purley

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Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

Secrets and Lies is a beautifully constructed sentimental melodrama, with none of the rough edges that Mike Leigh has insisted on in the past.

Nov 15, 2017

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Secrets & Lies is littered with scenes that begin at a fever pitch before descending into a becalmed, meditative state.

Rated: 3/4

Feb 19, 2005

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Whether it be a contemporary or a period piece, Leigh once again provides a provocative portrait on a subject that can (dis)connect the family dynamics in any area.

Mar 6, 2023

Full Review

Noël Herpe

Positif

This is exactly the challenge taken up by Leigh: bring film back to its community calling and remember that, beyond the confusion of images and identities, there are... people with pasts, sufferings, things to say, families -- and we are all part of it.

May 3, 2022

Full Review

Tom Cassidy

Common Sense Media

A benchmark for comedy dramas, this award-winning 1996 film is a bonafide masterpiece.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 4, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a successful black eye doctor, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to a lower-class white woman, Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn). At first Cynthia denies the claim, but she eventually admits to birthing Hortense as a teenager, and the two begin to bond. However, when Cynthia invites Hortense to a family barbecue, Cynthia's already tense relationship with her family becomes even more complicated.

Director: Mike Leigh
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Distributor: October Films
Production Co: Channel Four Films, Thin Man Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.4M

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