The Secret in Their Eyes: Movie Review

The Secret in Their Eyes: Movie Review

The Secret In Their Eyes
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Ricardo Darin, Pablo Rago, Guillermo Francella, Soledad Villamil
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
El secreto de sus ojos (to give it its Argentinean title) arrives on our shores having collected the Academy Award this year for Best Foreign Language Film.
Set in 1999, Ricardo Darin (a popular Argentinean actor) plays former investigator Benjamin Esposito who's retired but not been able to put one case out of his mind.
25 years ago, Esposito investigated the brutal rape and murder of a 23 year old woman - but despite pursuing several leads, Esposito and his partner Sandoval never managed to close the case.
One suspect emerges and the duo try everything in their power to get him convicted - but as Esposito recalls the case for a novel, he begins to realise that he has to reopen the case.
Not only that, but he must rediscover the feelings he buried a long time ago for his boss Irene&.
The Secret In Their Eyes is a solid crime drama; gritty and involving. It also has some wonderful character moments and the partnership between Esposito and Sandoval has some brilliant quirky and humorous moments.
But there's an undercurrent of tragedy in this slightly over long film thanks in part to the lost love theme running throughout. Esposito suffers from a destructive unrequited love and the murdered victim's husband suffers from a mournful desire to find out exactly what happened to his wife. As the truth begins to unravel at the denouement, there's a powderkeg of emotions waiting to explode as the slow burner finally ignites.

The Secret In Their Eyes will drag you in - it may take a little time to get going but once it's got its nails into you, it won't let go.