Secrets & Lies

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Mickey B. @Mickerdoo Apr 4 Culminates in a tragically powerful scene. Spall and Blethyn bring humanity to their roles. Captivating cinematography in seemingly simple shots. See more Karen S @KLS128 Feb 23 Wow, did Mike Leigh ever get this right! He must be adopted himself to have understood exactly the emotions that surface during reunions. The birth mother’s seemingly endless grief, the adoptee’s immense patience holding space for her while suppressing her own emotional turmoil. The chaos that ensues when family members who have kept secrets for a lifetime come clean. The eventual moving on from the pain and unconditional acceptance that results. The direction and acting were brilliant and flawless. Well done Mike. See more RichardAB T @PoorDearRichard Jan 24 Secrets & Lies makes you feel like you’re intruding on the most intimate corners of someone else’s life, and for some reason, I can’t help but relate to films about family turmoil. Brenda Blethyn as Cynthia Purley is a masterclass in raw, unvarnished vulnerability — she doesn’t just act, she inhabits a woman teetering on the edge of collapse, every nerve exposed. Phyllis Logan’s Monica Purley provides the perfect counterpoint: a rigid, icy fortress of suburban repression against Cynthia’s chaotic emotionality. Watching these two together is mesmerizing, and they are two of my favorite actresses. Easily one of my top ten films, and one I find myself returning to at least once a year. See more Patrick S @PatrickStruik Dec 13 Mike Leigh masterpiece. See more Alec B @Alec97 04/09/2025 Thankfully Leigh was the writer/director as this same set-up could be maudlin in less capable hands. Blethyn does give one of my absolute favorite performances here. So real that you could be mistaken for thinking it was a documentary. See more David F @dfulmer 03/16/2025 This is a fantastic film about an adopted woman who seeks out her birth mother and the troubled family of her birth mother. It is tender, heartbreaking, entertaining, funny, touching, and so much more. This, truly, is cinema. See more Read all reviews

Secrets & Lies

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