Secrets & Lies

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Secrets & Lies

R

1996

2h 22m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

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44 Reviews

91%

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10,000+ Ratings

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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Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

11/15/2017

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

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

02/19/2005

3/4

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

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Mike Clark

USA Today

01/01/2000

4/4

Leigh's best work yet is indisputably screen art, but it's a flesh-and-blood 'people' movie, too.

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Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

03/06/2023

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.

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Noël Herpe

Positif

05/03/2022

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.

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Tom Cassidy

Common Sense Media

03/04/2022

5/5

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

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Mickey B.

@Mickerdoo 4d

Culminates in a tragically powerful scene. Spall and Blethyn bring humanity to their roles. Captivating cinematography in seemingly simple shots.

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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.

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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.

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Patrick S

@PatrickStruik Dec 13

Mike Leigh masterpiece.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Apr 9

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.

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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.

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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

Hollow Reed

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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
Producer: Simon Channing Williams
Screenwriter: Mike Leigh
Distributor: October Films
Production Co: Thin Man Films, Channel Four Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.4M
Runtime: 2h 22m

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