Story Line
After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.
“Roxanne drives her mother crazy. Maurice never speaks to his niece. Cynthia has a shock for her family. Monica can't talk to her husband. Hortense has never met her mother.”
Top Cast
Brenda Blethyn
Cynthia Rose Purley
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Hortense Cumberbatch
Timothy Spall
Maurice Purley
Phyllis Logan
Monica Purley
Claire Rushbrook
Roxanne Purley
Lee Ross
Paul
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Rating
7.6/ 10
Release Date
1996-05-24
Runtime
2h 22m
Genres
Drama
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User Reviews (5)
CRCulver
8/10
•5/27/2018SECRETS AND LIES is a 1996 film by Mike Leigh that, appropriately enough, is concerned with the things that members of a family conceal from each other.
Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a black woman in London who has made a successful career as...
Peter McGinn
10/10
•8/23/2020If I ever get around to drawing up a list of my top 25 favorite non-blockbuster movies, Secrets and Lies would roll in very near the top. I have watched it a few times and expect I will continue to do so periodically.
The acting is phenomenal. It ...
Filipe Manuel Neto
6/10
•5/20/2023**A good work, currently forgotten.**
Just when I think I've seen all sorts of movies about racism, issues of race or prejudice, there's something new that comes out of nowhere, or some meritorious, well-made effort that's worth seeing. This film,...
griggs79
9/10
•12/2/2024_Secrets & Lies_ is a compelling film that delves into the themes of family, identity, and the profound impact of shame on relationships. It skillfully intertwines raw emotion with a sense of honesty that reverberates throughout the narrative. The pe...