Secrets & Lies
Secrets & Lies is a 1996 comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. Led by an ensemble cast consisting of many Leigh regulars, it focuses on a dysfunctional family whose relations are thrown into further chaos after Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) is contacted by her adult daughter Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who was put up for adoption at birth and wishes to connect with her birth mother. Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, and Claire Rushbrook co-star as other members of the family.
Plot
Hortense Cumberbatch, a Black optometrist in London, embarks on a journey to trace her family history following the death of her adoptive mother. Despite warnings about potential challenges, she discovers her birth mother is Cynthia Purley, a white woman working in a cardboard box factory in East London. Cynthia lives with her daughter Roxanne, a street sweeper, and tensions arise in their strained relationship. Cynthia's brother Maurice, a successful photographer, lives in the suburbs with his wife Monica, who struggles with depression over her inability to have children.
Awards
More details
| author | Mike Leigh |
|---|---|
| award | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films Palme d'Or |
| contentLocation | London |
| director | Mike Leigh |
| editor | Jon Gregory |
| events | adoption descent dysfunctional family family family conflict identity secrecy |
| genre | comedy-drama social |
| keywords | adoptive mother birthday party black british people bond cry east london emotional breakdown family history medical student meet optometrist optometry plan strained relationship warn white woman |
| musicBy | Andrew Dickson |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay European Film Award for Best Film |
| producer | Simon Channing Williams |
| productionCompany | Channel Four Films Ciby 2000 Thin Man Films |
| publisher | Ciby 2000 FilmFour Distributors |
| recordedAt | London |
| theme | black independent |