Secrets & Lies (film)

Hortense Cumberbatch, a black optometrist in London who was adopted as a child, has chosen to trace her family history after the death of her adoptive mother. Despite being warned by public officials about the troubles she could face by tracking her birth mother down, she continues her investigation and is baffled to learn that her birth mother is white; she does not resent this fact and wants to know more about her mother's past.

Hortense's birth mother, Cynthia Purley, works in a cardboard box factory. She lives in East London with her other illegitimate daughter Roxanne, a street sweeper, with whom she has a tense relationship. Cynthia's younger brother Maurice is a successful photographer who lives in the suburbs with his wife Monica. The couple also experience domestic difficulties. Monica is often abrupt, but later scenes reveal that she suffers from severe menstrual cramps. She and Cynthia have never liked one another: Monica regards her sister-in-law as self-pitying and overly hysterical, while Cynthia deems Monica greedy and snobbish.

Maurice only occasionally sees Cynthia and Roxanne despite not living particularly far from them, but he and Monica both look forward to celebrating their niece's upcoming 21st birthday. When Maurice pays Cynthia a rare visit, she breaks down in tears, berating her brother for his long absence. Before leaving, Maurice gives her money to pay for repairs on the house and tells her of his and Monica's wish to hold a barbecue for Roxanne's birthday.

Roxanne is revealed to have a boyfriend, Paul, whom Cynthia has never met. This leads to an argument between mother and daughter; Roxanne storms out, leaving Cynthia in tears. Shortly thereafter, Hortense rings Cynthia and starts to enquire about "baby Elizabeth Purley", whom she says was born in 1968. Cynthia realises that Hortense is the daughter she gave up for adoption as a teenager and hangs up the phone in distress, but Hortense, still determined to learn more about her background, rings Cynthia again and eventually manages to persuade her to meet her. When they finally come face to face, Cynthia, not expecting Hortense to be black, insists that a mistake has been made with the birth records. Hortense convinces Cynthia to look at some documents pertaining to Hortense's birth. Cynthia remains convinced that Hortense is not her daughter until, suddenly, she retrieves a memory and begins to cry, stating that she is ashamed. Hortense then asks who her father was, to which Cynthia replies, "You don't wanna know that, darling." The pair continue to converse, asking questions about one another's lives.

Soon Hortense and Cynthia have struck up a friendship; Cynthia, who is not in the habit of going out, suddenly finds herself doing so frequently, catching the attention of Roxanne, who is confused by her mother's secrecy. On one of their meetings, Cynthia mentions to Hortense Roxanne's birthday party. She later asks Maurice if she can bring a "mate from work" to the barbecue; when he says yes, she relays this information to Hortense, who, despite her reservations, agrees to attend and pose as Cynthia's colleague. On the day of the birthday party Monica makes an effort to be welcoming, but nonetheless she and Cynthia are unable to resist making passive-aggressive comments towards one another. During the barbecue Hortense evasively answers the many questions that are put to her by the other guests.

The party moves inside due to rain. While Hortense is in the bathroom, Cynthia, who has become increasingly nervous, reveals that she is her daughter. Roxanne dismisses this claim, assuming that she has had too much to drink, but when Monica inadvertently confirms it as true, she is horrified and storms out of the house. Maurice attempts to pacify the situation by confronting Roxanne at a nearby bus stop, and he and Paul manage to convince her to hear her mother out. Meanwhile, Cynthia and Monica quarrel: Cynthia says that Monica should try bringing up a child on her own, to which Monica, though visibly upset, says nothing. When Roxanne, Maurice and Paul return, Cynthia apologises profusely to Roxanne and explains matters: she fell pregnant at fifteen and was sent away by her father; after the adoption she never expected Hortense to seek her out. Cynthia proceeds to berate Monica, and Maurice, coming to the latter's defence, reveals that she is physically incapable of having children. He loses his temper, exhorting those present to "share [their] pain." Hortense tries to leave but Maurice stops her, praising her for having the courage to seek the truth. Cynthia then explains that Roxanne's father was an American medical student vacationing in Benidorm whom she met at a pub. One morning, Cynthia awoke and he had gone. Hortense again enquires as to the identity of her father. Cynthia replies, "Don't break my heart, darling."

After a while things have calmed down and Hortense pays a visit to Cynthia and Roxanne at their home. Hortense reveals that she always wanted a sister. Roxanne reveals that she would be happy to introduce Hortense as her half-sister notwithstanding the long explanations that it would entail. They gather for a visit at Cynthia's, and have tea.

• Timothy Spall as Maurice Purley
• Brenda Blethyn as Cynthia Rose Purley
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Hortense Cumberbatch
• Phyllis Logan as Monica Purley
• Claire Rushbrook as Roxanne Purley
• Elizabeth Berrington as Jane
• Michele Austin as Dionne
• Lee Ross as Paul
• Lesley Manville as Jenny Ford, the Social Worker
• Ron Cook as Stuart
• Emma Amos as Girl with Scar
• Brian Bovell and Trevor Laird as Hortense's Brothers
• Clare Perkins as Hortense's Sister-in-Law
• Jonny Coyne as Fiancé

The film was released to critical acclaim; on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 95% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10; the site's critical consensus is: "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."[8] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 91 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]

Film critic Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times gave Secrets & Lies four out of four stars. He wrote that "moment after moment, scene after scene, Secrets & Lies unfolds with the fascination of eavesdropping", and added: "[Leigh] finds a rhythm of life – not 'real life,' but real life as fashioned and shaped by all the art and skill his actors can bring to it – and slips into it, so that we are not particularly aware we're watching a film." He called the film "a flowering of his technique. It moves us on a human level, it keeps us guessing during scenes as unpredictable as life, and it shows us how ordinary people have a chance of somehow coping with their problems, which are rather ordinary, too."[10] In 2009, he added the film to his "Great Movies" list.[11]

Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film Leigh's "best and most accessible work to date" and remarked that "everyone's had these family skirmishes and confrontations in their lives, and it's remarkable to see them recorded so accurately and painfully on film. Leigh's marvelous achievement is not only in capturing emotional clarity on film, but also in illustrating the ways in which families start to heal and find a certain bravery in their efforts."[12] Similarly, Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times ranked the film among the best of the 14 features Leigh had written and directed by then. He found that Secrets & Lies was "a piercingly honest, completely accessible piece of work that will go directly to the hearts of audiences who have never heard of him. If film means anything to you, if emotional truth is a quality you care about, this is an event that ought not be missed [...] Unforced, confident and completely involving, with exceptional acting aided by Dick Pope's unobtrusive camera work and John Gregory's telling editing, Secrets & Lies is filmmaking to savor."[13]

The Washington Post author Desson Howe felt that the film incorporated all the "elements of humor, sweetness, cruelty and directness" of Leigh's previous films but dubbed Secrets & Lies "more emotional, tear-inducing and compassionate than its predecessors." He declared it "an extended, multilayered revelation, and you don’t get the full, complex picture until the final scene."[14] His colleague, Rita Kempley, called the film "a magnificent melodrama that draws both tears and laughter from the everyday give-and-take of seemingly ordinary souls." She noted that "Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste are a joy to behold in tandem, but Blethyn's endearing portrait is transcendent."[15]

It is also listed as the 40th best British film by the BFI.[16]

This film was the subject of "positive pickets" by the adult adoptee rights organisation Bastard Nation, which used it as a vehicle to raise awareness of sealed birth records in the United States and Canada.[19]

Director Leigh and actress Blethyn met with Bastard Nation activists at a positive picket in Beverly Hills on 10 March 1997, where they were presented with Bastard Nation T-shirts.[20]

• BFI Top 100 British films

• Secrets & Lies at IMDb
• Secrets and Lies at BFI Screenonline
• Secrets & Lies at Box Office Mojo
• Secrets & Lies at Rotten Tomatoes
• Secrets & Lies at Metacritic