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the secrets we keep

★★★

director: yuval adler (the operative, bethlehem)

starring: noomi rapace, joel kinnaman, chris messina and amy seimetz

 

REVIEWER: lyall carter

In post-WWII America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbour and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.

You can’t beat a good ol’ historical thriller. And even though there is a slight predictability to The Secrets We Keep, it's still an entertaining, well acted, beautifully produced and thrilling ride.

 

Having escaped the horrors of World War II, Maja has built a new life for herself along with her husband Lewis, a doctor but keeps her war experience a closely guarded secret. 

One day while in the park with her son, Maja overhears a man whistling for his dog which reminds her of the way a Nazi soldier who raped her whistled. 

 

After following the man and watching his every move, Maja is convinced that he is in fact the soldier who assaulted her. 

 

Kidnapping him and tying him in her basement, Maja and her husband seek to find the truth of who this man truly is. 

 

On the local cinemas marquee in the film is North by Northwest, the classic Hitchcock thriller, which is kinda poetic since The Secrets We Keep shares some key Hitchcockian traits.

 

At its heart The Secrets We Keep is an exploration of the burden of secrets and of sin. Both Maja and Thomas, the man she believes raped her, carry traumatic secrets and horrific mistakes from their past that continue to haunt them and impact their lives. Very Hitchcockian indeed.

 

And while they are interesting themes to explore which is bolstered by great acting and production design, the is he/or isn’t he the Nazi thug mystery of the film is unfurled in such a way that the outcome is a tad predictable. 

 

But The Secrets We Keep is still thoroughly entertaining with Noomi Rapace’s highly emotive performance reminiscent of her outstanding work in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

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Even though there is a slight predictability to The Secrets We Keep, it's still an entertaining, well acted and thrilling ride.

★★★

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