Secretary
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: September 20, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyStaff (Not Credited)
There's a word for an actress who can go from nervous to winsome to raunchy to romantic in a heartbeat and get you to adore her the whole time. The word is star. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
Most love stories are bland and generalized. This one takes you deep inside the dance. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Secretary is a testament to the importance of tonality in telling a story.
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Has enough genuine laughs to eliminate the potential twitters and snickers, and it treats Edward and Lee as people. We end up caring about what happens to these two individuals, even as we smile and laugh at their antics. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Secretary is one of the best of a growing strain of daring films -- "Bliss," "The Lifestyle," "Satin Rouge" -- that argue that any sexual relationship that doesn't hurt anyone and works for its participants is a relationship that is worthy of our respect. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Lee's journey of the body and soul is something else. Maggie Gyllenhaal makes it strangely touching, a revelation.
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A film of startling humor and feeling. For that, director Steven Shainberg, who co-wrote the script with Erin Cressida Wilson, owes much to two remarkable performances. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Manages to be simultaneously subversive and sweet.
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The unnecessarily emphatic ending suggests that Secretary's makers are a bit anxious to demonstrate they've whipped a potentially grotesque, spanks-for-the-memories scenario into the season's most romantic love story -- which is, in fact, what they've done. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's a liberating, kindhearted picture, one whose ending brings with it the feeling that something has finally been shaken free. How comfortable you feel with that is completely up to you. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
In a very demanding role demanding a vast emotional range from clueless innocent to confident role player and emotional adventurer, Gyllenhaal is outstanding. Read full review
80
Washington PostRichard Leiby
Initially cold and perverse to its core, the film transmutes into something warm and uplifting. Normal, even. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A wholesome self-help fable about the unlocking of shame and its magical transformation into pleasure and personal liberation. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
For all the dolorous trim, Secretary is a genial romance that maintains a surprisingly buoyant tone throughout, notwithstanding some of the writers' sporadic dips into pop Freudianism. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Wicked little black comedy. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyGraham Robinson
Secretary's treatment of female sexuality is as matter-of-fact as its handling of self-mutilation, and the key to both is Gyllenhaal's remarkable performance. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Love hurts in Secretary -- but not too much. It's not impossible to imagine adventurous young couples seeing this movie and rushing home to try out the handcuffs and paddles. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Approaches the tricky subject of sadomasochism with a stealthy tread, avoiding the dangers of making it either too offensive, or too funny. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Even without the surprise of seeing Spader going for laughs and getting them, Secretary is just too original to be ignored. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Pulls off a neat trick: It's a poignant, sweet-natured love story in which what most of us would call kinky sex - domination, submission, some enthusiastic spanking - is featured prominently, but not pruriently. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Against all odds, director Steven Shainberg has managed to craft an oddly compassionate -- and often very funny -- tale of an emotionally symbiotic affair. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The daring, funny and quirkily erotic Secretary examines power exchanges between consenting adults in a way that other movies have not managed without turning off swaths of the squeamish. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
There's something appealing about an unapologetic love story set in an office that's only a few clicks off from looking like a fetish dungeon, and Spader and Gyllenhaal make sure that the romance, kinks and all, carries the day. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
Secretary, like the type of relationship it explores, is not for everybody. But it does what good films do best; that is to provoke us, push our buttons, make us think and maybe even entertain us in the process. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Director Steven Shainberg and writer Erin Cressida Wilson argue that everyone deserves the love that makes them happiest, and that these two will remain miserable until they stumble upon each other. Read full review
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