The Secrets We Keep movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE: The Secrets We Keep

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B-

IN A NUTSHELL:

Set in Anytown, USA in the late 1950s, this dramatic thriller takes a look at some of the atrocities committed during WWII and the haunting effects those memories have on individuals who are trying to move on with their lives. The movie is directed by Yuval Adler. He also had his hand in writing the screenplay with Ryan Covington. Did they rip off the story? Some say yes. The film is extremely similar to another one called Death and the Maiden, which was based on the play by Ariel Dorfman.

The cast is excellent and, if you haven’t seen the other movie, you’ll feel the story’s powerful themes.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

You see a couple in bed with some skin.
Some violence
Talk and some portrayal of a rape

THEMES:

Memories
Truth vs. deception
Secrets
Marriage
Forgiveness vs. revenge
Doubt
WWII
Jews
Mistaken identity
Closure
Paranoia, obsession

THINGS I LIKED:

Noomi Rapace is such an interesting actress. Her accent and look allow her to play several different nationalities in movies, all believably. She’s intense and has some physicality that allows her to effectively do action and drama. Both she and Joel Kinnaman were born in Sweden and both starred in the movie Child 44. He looked a little too young for this role, but his performance was very good.
Chris Messina was excellent in his role as Lewis, Maja’s husband who can’t decide if his wife is delusional or really remembering the past correctly.
The ending perfectly fits the title of the film.
I loved how the movie kept you guessing because you didn’t know what was the truth and what was paranoia.
The cinematography reminded me of a little bit of Hitchcock films.
The color palette was great and really set the stage for this period in time.
The flashbacks looked ghostly, which was a perfect representation of how our memories can haunt us.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The flashback scenes were hard to see because they were blurry and fast-moving.
The storytelling and pacing were choppy.
Some of the editing felt clunky.
More time needed to be spent developing our love for the protagonist; otherwise, we care more about the man being kidnapped and accused, especially if you think he’s innocent.
Because the events are spread over a series of days, the tension gets broken up by other scenes that take you out of the moment.

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