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Secrets and Lies
The films follows a successful black woman and her white mother. When the woman's mother tries to hide her underprivileged status and when emotions run high, deceits are made, causing tears and scars that are difficult to repair.
1948, London, England, UK
26 October 1959, London, England, UK
11 December 1921, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, UK
3 August 1970, Wallasey, Cheshire, England, UK
23 October 1905, Patagonia, Argentina
30 July 1953, Grays, Essex, England, UK
February 25, 2003
An excellent drama of family dysfunction.
March 01, 2005
Leigh's film stops short of catharsis, providing the potential for the characters' rebuilding of their relationships without suggesting that such projects are simple or immediate.
May 07, 2006
It's hard to argue against it being a sharply observant and deeply felt melodrama, one that is accessible, contemporary and frightingly realistic.
March 26, 2003
Perhaps Mike Leigh's most popular film, but still packs a gut-punch.
June 26, 2004
An English mother-daughter racial melodrama that resonates with simplicity and insight. Leigh is considerate of his movie's identity and spirit just as much as demonstrates this with his wounded protagonists
July 01, 2004
The characters are so painfully real it's more like watching a documentary than a made-up story.
March 18, 2011
In the hands of another director, it would have been a sentimental melodrama, a soap opera, but with nuanced writing and sharp helming, Mike Leigh mixes humor and pathos in equal measure.
November 13, 2003
His characters look normal, act normal, chatter, and scream. And even when they choose not to speak, not to give away secrets, they're still heard.
September 02, 2009
Much more than just a touching story of the ties that bind humanity and the way we reveal ourselves, "Secrets and Lies" (1996) is a staggering work of cinematic genius. It is truly a perfect film.
September 14, 2005
Leigh's script and direction pushes all the right emotional buttons without getting overly melodramatic.
January 01, 2000
Leigh's best work yet is indisputably screen art, but it's a flesh-and-blood 'people' movie, too.
February 19, 2005
Secrets & Lies is littered with scenes that begin at a fever pitch before descending into a becalmed, meditative state.