Secrets & Lies
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment | Release Date: September 27, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
92
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TNT RoughCutJason Puskar
A masterful mix of wit and humor, sympathy and sadness. Read full review
100
Washington PostRita Kempley
A magnificent melodrama that draws both tears and laughter from the everyday give-and-take of seemingly ordinary souls. Read full review
100
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Represents the director at his best -- unsentimental yet powerful, funny and poignant, and, in the end, undeniably satisfying. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Reveals itself detail by searing detail. Read full review
100
USA TodayMike Clark
Blethyn is so astonishing that you forget you're seeing a performance. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Leigh is an artist not at all blind to the world's darkness and pain. But the generosity and togetherness he and his company show in Secrets and Lies is something the movies -- and the world -- truly need. [25 October 1996, Friday, p.A]
100
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Leigh, the writer, ties up things somewhat neatly and is a touch homiletic. Leigh, the director of cast and camera, is masterly. [Sept. 30, 1996]
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
If film means anything to you, if emotional truth is a quality you care about, this is an event that ought not be missed. Read full review
100
SlateSarah Kerr
Leigh at his best is a renderer of moments--the wisest and deepest observer, probably, among living directors. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It moves us on a human level, it keeps us guessing during scenes as unpredictable as life, and it shows us how ordinary people have a chance of somehow coping with their problems, which are rather ordinary, too. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
A radiant, heartbreaking film. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Leigh goes right to the core of his character's lives and mines the place where we're weakest, most alone and sometimes the cruelest. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
There's not a weak performance in Secrets And Lies, a fact made more notable by the seeming ease with which the cast performs as an ensemble. Read full review
90
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
The ride is remarkable. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The acting is so strong--with Spall a particular standout--that you're carried along as by a tidal wave. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The results are wondrous, wrenching and crazily funny to behold. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
Rich in humor, pained or frolicking. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Unfolds beautifully, with a rueful, knowing intelligence that rises above easy assumptions. [27 September 1996, p.C1] Read full review
90
Film.comSean Means
Breathtaking, heartbreaking.
90
Film.comTom Keogh
By creating characters from emotional wellsprings rather than concepts, Leigh thrills us with the possibilities that emerge when people are merely in the same room.
88
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
Leigh has a gift for demonstrating character from the outside in. Read full review
80
Film.comJohn Hartl
So meticulously acted that you feel you're reading the characters' minds.
80
Dallas ObserverArnold Wayne Jones
Secrets & Lies is all about wounds and our tendency to embrace placebos rather than the harder courses of treatment. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A crowd-pleaser, all right, but, for all its appeal, a naggingly sanctimonious one. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Crammed, cheek to jowl, with bleak moments, high hopes, sweetness and naked emotion. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Secrets & Lies, despite my dwelling on its problems, is a really solid and enjoyable movie. It's just not what I would call "best of the fest." Read full review
60
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Unquestionably a finely observed, deeply felt work, though with some nagging problems in pacing and structure. Read full review
More From This Movie

92 Critic Reviews

8.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL