The Secret in Their Eyes - Film Review

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The Secret in their Eyes tells the harrowing story of a team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, who are torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered. This film is a Hollywood remake of an award-winning 2009 Argentinian film.



This is a tightly paced thriller is written and directed by Academy Award nominee Billy Ray, who wrote the screenplay for the highly praised Captain Phillips. It is produced by the Academy Award winning Mark Johnson of Rain Man and Breaking Bad fame. The film is based on the film El secreto de sus ojos, a 2009 Argentine crime thriller film directed, produced and edited by Juan José Campanella with a screenplay by Eduardo Sacheri and Campanella. The film was based on Sacheri's novel La pregunta de sus ojos (The Question in Their Eyes). This film also has the distinction of winning the Best Foreign Film of 2009 at the Academy Awards.



Secret In Their Eyes is a dark mystery, which leaves a powerful impact. It has some high calibre actors including Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts. They are all convincing, but it is Julia Roberts playing against type, who really stands out. She plays the mother of the murdered daughter and is truly worn down and burnt out. As her fellow officer says 'You look like you are a thousand years old'.




This is intense drama is about the brutal murder and rape of a teenage girl which leaves a trail of broken lives and trauma for thirteen long years. The film changes timelines from present day to the original events frequently, so the viewer is absorbed very early on in the piece tracking of what is happening. The hunt for the killer becomes the only form of redemption for one officer and a wound that won't heal for many others. The resolution is chilling and horrible. Definitely not a feel good movie.



The film is a reflection on the prison of pain and trauma that goes with an unresolved crime for the family and the people employed to investigate a horrible crime. A movie that stays with you long after the credits stop rolling.

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