In Secret (2014)

i must have seen a different film!!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The first part of the movie is a beautiful insight of the life in old France, with its fairy tale appeal - the orphan girl who lives a dull life, full of hopes and dreams, who meets a handsome painter and makes all sorts of love promises. They begin to meet in secret, and although sympathising for her ill husband, I slowly wished for her and prince charming to be together. Their hopes and love are contagious. But they begin to wish for more than they have - and by acting without foreseeing the consequences of guilt, they forge the path to their doom.The second part is where the real trouble begins. I wish that, given all that she had suffered, they would have a happy ending. But that would've been too simple, and maybe careless about their morals or the poor ill husband, who just wanted to make her happy but couldn't. I watched this part afflicted, because it was so devastating to see their once beautiful and contagious love fade into chaos and the realisation that there was no love left.While the first part was full of hope, the second part took it all away. But it's no different from any tragedy story, sort of like Romeo and Juliet; and people don't stop believing in their romance because of that. It is a painful message that love doesn't survive everything. That the wonder of youth eventually fades away - and maybe you can't survive what's left, the cold truth that is reality.

Emile Zola's dark novel of adultery murder and guilt was shocking for it's time 1860s. So it's good to keep that in mind when watching this. Nowadays we are used to this kind of lot in many a film noir.I watched it for the good actors and actresses in it. Oscar Isaac is really quite different here as the lover/murderer. He can really act and race / time period. So versatile. Elizabeth Olsen looks quite beautiful much more so than in her other movies. Maybe the period get up suits her. Her acting is actually quite good. It's hard to make an unsympathetic character watchable but she does it. Jessica Lange acts the role as mother in law very well. Only she could act this way. Tom Felton is made to look pretty scary as the consumptive husband.First of all this is an gloomy and depressing story and the dark grim setting and cinematography make things seem even gloomier.Worth one depressing watch.

If you suppress sexuality and love long enough, it will break out eventually. And this is what happens here at some point. There are some very racy scenes, that while we do not get so much naked flesh to see, might be a bit too much for some viewers. Love can be freeing, but it can also be like a prison.And while we do probably have the one Olsen sister who can actually act in this, this might be too much even for her. Especially towards the end, her act seems to be breaking (no pun intended). It gets pretty weird too, too weird maybe for some, but that's something you'll have to see for yourself. I kinda liked it, though the characters seem to lose a bit of their credibility. But it happens ... or it could happen

"It's always the ones in the corner you have too worry about."Kind of like in the same way that the main character, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage in this period drama directed by Charlie Stratton, I felt trapped in this dull and lifeless film. To be honest, I checked this film out because of the cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, and Jessica Lange are all superb actors, but their characters never had much depth. There were major problems with the adaptation of the screenplay from Émile Zola's 19th century novel, "Therese Racquin," while the pacing was an issue for me as well. The production design transported me to 19th Century Paris very well, but the English language used never felt like it was from that period. In Secret does begin with some promise and I actually was drawn to the characters, but after 20 or so minutes it began to lose its appeal as it became hard to sympathize with any of the characters. We've seen this sort of Shakespearean tragedy played out many times and much better than it is done here. Jessica Lange is the only one who actually raises above from the rest of the cast and tries to salvage the movie, but it is expected considering her character had to undergo the most emotional ranges. Her character is the strongest thing about In Secret where she slowly transforms from an unsympathetic character to a sympathetic one.The story is set during the 1860's in Paris as we are introduced to a forced marriage between Thérèse Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen) and her cousin Camille (Tom Felton) by his domineering mother, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange). Therese was raised by Madame after her mother passed away and her father decided to leave her in their care before moving to Africa. Therese grew up playing nurse to the often sick Camille, and eventually was forced to marry him. Camille cares for Therese as a brother, but doesn't really show any affection towards her as a husband, which leaves Therese sexually repressed. One day Camille brings an old friend home. His name is Laurent (Oscar Isaac) and he soon begins a secret affair with Therese behind Camille's back, which eventually leads to tragic consequences.This is the third film I've seen Olsen in over the past two weeks, and despite not choosing the best projects for her I still consider she is a talented actress. She has not reached the same level she did in Martha Marcy May Marlene, but she is someone whose movies I'm always looking forward to. Despite this, I still didn't like the character she played in this film and didn't believe the chemistry she shared with Oscar Isaac on screen. This period drama really relies on that strong chemistry, but other than the forbidden love premise the film doesn't have much going for it. The film explores common issues we've seen in other better films. In Secret uncovers the tragic consequences of dark secrets and how they can end up destroying you. Only Jessica Lange fans might leave this film satisfied because she does deliver the strongest performance in the movie, but nothing else works very well in this uninspired film.