Open Secret

As one who watches a lot of documentaries once I read about this documentary I was eager to watch it. It did not disappoint. As a product of small town Kansas I understood how a family and town could keep a secret, and how devastating it could be to finally be told the truth. The filmmaker did a great job in telling the story. No false moments. I do wish it was more available as I told several of my old Kansas friends (including my 85 year old mother) about it, but they weren't able to see it as Al Jazeera isn't available to most of them. The film stayed with me for a while. Maybe it's because I grew up with the same type of people in the same rural environment. Maybe it's because it was really well done. Anyway, this documentary is well worth your time.

If you're looking for good cry this is it. Without spoiling anything, I'll say that the circumstances of the filmmaker's life growing up in rural America are, on one hand, not that unusual or remarkable. But what is remarkable is that he found out he was part of one big lie, and that the entire town was in on it. And it went on for his entire life until he finally left home at 18.

The secret in this film is actually revealed fairly early so don't expect a big reveal at the end or a lot of suspense leading up to the reveal. The story focuses instead on what the truth behind the secret did to the filmmaker, his family and everyone who was in on it. And on how the filmmaker works through the fallout as an adult after deciding to pull back the curtain and confront everyone.

This was a great documentary. At times it felt like a mystery, at other times like a drama, and this along with a few more recent documentaries have shredded the stereotype of a documentary as something your dad forced you to watch when you were a good. The subject was a hidden secret, and everything from the atmosphere of a small town, to the reveal was thrilling. We often ask why we are obsessed with secrets, are we who we really think we are? Are our parents and friends the vision we have had of them for years? This is a teaser to a question that our mind will try to touch and at times we will receive answers that surprise us.

I hope this producer will bring us more works like this.

I identified with this film on so many levels, as my family history has similar themes to it. Steve was simply seeking the truth about his own history. This history should have been readily accessible, as the people who had the answers to his questions were his immediate family members. Steve had many dilemmas to deal with, as well as family members who were, to say the least, not cooperative. What do you do when honesty and transparency are not qualities that your family embraces? What do you do when getting at the reasons behind why things happened in your life are hidden and just out of reach, simply because the people that you trusted and loved seem to have cooperated in order to keep things from you? It was a very well done film.

This film was a courageous undertaking. Many people wouldn't have been able to face what Steve had done. He looked straight into faces of those who deceived him and asked WHY? His film makes me want to ask the secret keepers of my own family to acknowledge their own pain. Thank you for making this film