Secrets & Lies

136 minutes • 1996 • 8.0

Director Mike Leigh often portraits ordinary people and their sometimes strange living condition in his movies. The 1996 drama comedy Secret and Lies is about the young black woman Hortence (Phyllis Logan), who is searching for her biological mother. To her great surprise, she finds that her mother, played by Brenda Blethyn, is a white working class woman. Leigh’s warm film about friendship, family ties and unexpected meetings is, according to Bonnier’s stora filmguide, “deeply touching in its moments, but also comical. The excellent acting gives life to this long, deliberately slow but very rewarding story with a strong sense of authenticity.” Brenda Blethyn was awarded Best Actress in Cannes film festival in 1996.