Secretos Ocultos

This is a surprising movie that sneaks up on the viewer in many ways--starting off with a bang and never lapsing into self-indulgence or violence for it's own sake; Andy Garcia, who produced the film, obviously cares about his part and surrounded himself with actors who felt likewise, the entire cast convincing in a combination of teen problem film crossed with a psychological thriller. It is also a film about family problems, and I found it never trivial and frequently a nail-biter.

I'd never heard of this film, and would stress, with others who have written about it, that if you're thinking about watching it, you avoid written material about the plot: the surprises are half the fun!

The movie in itself has a solid story. Andy Garcia is Michael Hunter a psychiatrist who loses his son by suicide. That leaves him devastated for three years, divorcing his wife and giving not the proper attention to his daughter. (We're all human, right?) By incident he gets a patient that reminds him of his son. This kid seems to be OK, but he has a troubled past. He will be released in a few weeks and Hunter must find out if that is correct. We as viewers no pretty soon, that it is not and hope that Hunter finds out before the deadline as well...

It may not seem as original and maybe it isn't, but I am still thinking about it, 12 hours after I saw it and personally I think that is great in this era of popcorn films...

Other aspects that are part of a movie, like lightning and acting are really great!! Vincent Kartheiser was probably cast because of this eyes, but he really gives a chilling performance.

Andy Garcia is acting great in his movie and the boy which is his patient too (he reminded me of Edward Norton's great performance in "Primal Fear") but... before the movie reached the first hour of running I already knew the end. Such a pity for movie that started so good... Three stars.

A leading psychiatrist has his world turned upside down by a tragic family event. He shuns patients, until being drawn back by a young man who witnessed his father kill his mother, but seems strangely unaffected by the event.

A great script that respects the audience, leaving a lot of information off-screen. When the story moves forward a few years and Garcia and his wife have separated, we fill in the blanks automatically and never have to be told why it happened. Tommy turns up with a car, and we know fine well how he got it, some despicable act cleverly left to our imaginations. Tommy is astoundingly, creepily normal given his circumstances, until his psychosis explodes suddenly. After that he tries in vain to get it back in the box. Garcia has never been better, every inch the grief-stricken father, his expressions nuanced and painful. He handles his 'revelation' in a prison scene near the end with aplomb.

The one downside is a maudlin, overbearing score that draws too much attention to itself.

This is a film that deserves to be better known. Thrillers with this kind of plot seldom have such multi-layered characters, or believable families and settings. An intelligent, rewarding film that I look forward to watching again.

This is one of the best films I have seen all year. I notice how few votes it has received and assume that it has gone mostly unnoticed. The words "I don't see how it could have been made any better come to mind.". A psychological thriller which kept my interest level throughout the entire film. Thoughtful, believable, emotionally moving and extremely well acted. Highly recommended!