Product Description: In the spirit of Ghost and Birth, Hannah and Benjamin (Lili Taylor, Six Feet Under and David Duchovny, The X-Files) are a happily married couple whose love is tested in ways they never could have imagined in this touching supernatural drama. But when Hannah is killed in a car accident, the couple's strong bond may be responsible for an unusual twist of fate that keeps their love alive -- at the expense of their daughter (Olivia Thirlby, Juno).
Amazon.com: Compared to pallid supernatural romances like Ghost, The Secret is a fireball of Freudian pathos about a love triangle between parents Benjamin (David Duchovny) and Hannah Marris (Lili Taylor), and their teenage daughter, Samantha (Olivia Thirlby). Directed by Swiss actor Vincent Perez, The Secret succeeds where other cheesy ghost films fail because there is always the possibility that after Benjamin's wife, Hannah, dies in a car accident and comes back to inhabit her daughter's body, Benjamin will be lured into his daughter's arms by sheer grief commingled with desire. The film's operates with increasing tension throughout, starting when Benjamin decides to believe that Sam is temporarily not Sam, but his wife. There are sappy scenes, such as when Sam, as mother Hannah, returns to high school following the accident and flails terribly in teenage situations. But the notion of a mother spying on her daughter through possession recalls Mommie Dearest, in a great way. The real credit in this film goes to Thirlby, who in essence plays two characters well, switching identities throughout. The sexual innuendo she brings to the part adds the zest The Secret needs to elevate it from a suburban nightmare to real horror. Viewers who enjoy The Secret might also look to Argento's mother trilogy, or the recently released French horror film, Inside. That said. The Secret contains no gore and relies on psychological suspense rather than violence to construct its mother/daughter tale. --Trinie Dalton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - inventive plot keeps the viewer engaged....
this story based on spiritual transference is well done and keeps the viewer guessing throughout the film. Good drama. The family dynamics and dysfunction that are explored are interesting in their own ... Read More
Rating: - Uneven and unsatisfying
This film is one of those that takes itself too seriously and in so doing ceases to remember that movies are first and foremost about entertainment. If you want to show you have depth become a swimming pool ... Read More
Rating: - Movie review
A somewhat trite storyline, but done really well, with no gratuitous sensuality! Ending may be a surprise, depending on how many movies of this type one has watched!
Rating: - Very well acted
I am rather surprised at the reviews. I thought the acting was completely solid. You knew when it was the mother and when it was the daughter. I must admit I was nervous about the couple consummating since ... Read More
Rating: - music?
I'm a huge Duchovny fan, and he was great in this... it's definitely a very interesting film, and worth renting, imo.
I'm wondering about certain music that was used in the film though-- specifically, ... Read More
- inventive plot keeps the viewer engaged....
- Uneven and unsatisfying 
- Movie review
- music?