Secrets & Lies story
Secrets & Lies is a 1996 drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. Led by an ensemble cast consisting of many Leigh regulars, it stars Marianne Jean- Baptiste as Hortense, a well-educated black middle-class London optometrist, who was adopted as a baby and has chosen to trace her family history – only to discover that her birth mother, Cynthia, played by Brenda Blethyn, is a working-class white woman with a dysfunctional family. Claire Rushbrook co- stars as Cynthia's other daughter Roxanne, while Timothy Spall and Phyllis Logan portray Cynthia's brother and sister-in-law, who have secrets of their own affecting their everyday family life.
14 total · 8 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Paul and Roxanne |
| brother and sister | major | Maurice and Cynthia |
| husband and wife | major | Maurice and Monica |
| in-law relationship | major | Cynthia and Monica had a turbulent relationship |
| mother and daughter | major | Cynthia and Hortense; Cynthia and Roxanne |
| photography | major | Maurice was a passionate photographer. |
| romantic love | major | Maurice and Monica professed love in bed; Roxanne and Paul professed their love briefly |
| the need to know one's roots | major | Hortense was driven by a desire to know her biological ancestry |
| alcohol abuse | minor | Maurice's former boss obviously drank to excess |
| coping with personal failure | minor | Maurice's former business partner showed up and begged for charity |