About

A richly lived-in drama about the human condition by British social-realist maestro Mike Leigh. Following the death of her adoptive mother, a young black woman Hortense Cumberbatch is curious to discover her biological roots and what happened all those years ago that led to her adoption. Her search leads her towards a white working class family. Secrets & Lies reveals the universal experience of love, hurt and healing in the personal particulars of this intimate family story.

Nominated for a slew of awards, the film won the Palme d’Or for Best Film at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival alongside the Best Actress Award for Brenda Belthyn. Blethyn’s bravura performance as brittle mum Cynthia is wonderfully offset by the steady calm of Marianne Jean-Baptiste as her biological daughter Hortense, now a successful optometrist. Leigh’s nuanced script and synergy with his cast, many of them regular collaborators, elevates commonplace interactions to a symphony of authenticity capturing the tender humanity in daily life.

M | Adult themes, Low level coarse language