Secrets & Lies poster

Secrets & Lies( 1996)

TV-MADrama
76%
User
Score

Overview

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

    Top Billed Cast

    1. cast image

      Brenda Blethyn

      Cynthia Rose Purley

    2. cast image

      Marianne Jean-Baptiste

      Hortense Cumberbatch

    3. cast image

      Timothy Spall

      Maurice Purley

    4. cast image

      Phyllis Logan

      Monica Purley

    5. cast image

      Claire Rushbrook

      Roxanne Purley

    6. cast image

      Lee Ross

      Paul

    7. cast image

      Lesley Manville

      The Social Worker

    8. cast image

      Elizabeth Berrington

      Jane

    9. cast image

      Michele Austin

      Dionne

    10. cast image

      Ron Cook

      Stuart

    11. cast image

      Trevor Laird

      Hortense's Brother

    12. cast image

      Brian Bovell

      Hortense's Brother

    13. cast image

      Emma Amos

      Girl with Scar

    14. cast image

      Clare Perkins

      Hortense's Sister in Law

    15. cast image

      Elias Perkins McCook

      Hortense's Nephew

    16. cast image

      Jane Mitchell

      Senior Optician (as June Mitchell)

    17. cast image

      Janice Acquah

      Junior Optician

    18. cast image

      Keylee Jade Flanders

      Girl in Opticians (as Keeley Flanders)

    19. cast image

      Hannah Davis

      First Bride

    20. cast image

      Terence Harvey

      First Bride's Father

    21. cast image

      Kate O'Malley

      Second Bride

    22. cast image

      Joe Tucker

      Groom

    23. cast image

      Richard Syms

      Vicar

    24. cast image

      Grant Masters

      Best Man

    25. cast image

      Annie Hayes

      Mother in Family Group

    26. cast image

      Jean Ainslie

      Grandmother

    27. cast image

      Lucy Sheen

      Nurse

    28. cast image

      Frances Ruffelle

      Young Mother

    29. cast image

      Nitin Ganatra

      Potential Suitor

    30. cast image

      Metin Marlow

      Conjuror

    31. cast image

      Su Elliot

      Raunchy Woman

    32. cast image

      Amanda Crossley

      Raunchy Woman

    33. cast image

      Di Sherlock

      Raunchy Woman

    34. cast image

      David Neilson

      Man in Suit

    35. cast image

      Peter Waddington

      Man in Suit

    36. cast image

      Peter Stockbridge

      Man in Suit

    37. cast image

      Rachel Lewis

      Graduate

    38. cast image

      Paul Trussell

      Grinning Husband

    39. cast image

      Jonny Coyne

      Fiance

    40. cast image

      Denise Orita

      Uneasy Woman

    41. cast image

      Margery Withers

      Elderly Lady

    42. cast image

      Gordon Winter

      Laughing Man

    43. cast image

      Theresa Watson

      Daughter

    44. cast image

      Peter Wight

      Father in Family Group

    45. cast image

      Gary McDonald

      Boxer

    46. cast image

      Alison Steadman

      Woman with Dog

    47. cast image

      Liz Smith

      Woman with Cat

    48. cast image

      Sheila Kelley

      Fertile Mother

    49. cast image

      Angela Curran

      Little Boy's Mother

    50. cast image

      Linda Beckett

      Pin Up Housewife

    51. cast image

      Phil Davis

      Man in Suit

    52. cast image

      Wendy Nottingham

      Glum Woman

    53. cast image

      Anthony O'Donnell

      Uneasy Man

    54. cast image

      Ruth Sheen

      Laughing Woman

    55. cast image

      Mia Soteriou

      Fiancee

    56. cast image

      Stephen Churchett

      Man in Suit

    Social

    Review 4Discussion
    C

    A review by CRCulver

    8
    Written by CRCulver on Sun May 27 2018
    SECRETS AND LIES is a 1996 film by Mike Leigh that, appropriately enough, is concerned with the things that members of a family conceal from each other. Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a black woman in London who has made a successful career as an optician, knew from a young age that she was adopted, but only after her adopted mother's death does she decide to look up her birth mother. Hortense is shocked to find that it is Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), not just white but living in near-poverty and wallowing in regret. Cynthia has a tumultuous relationship with her acknowledged daughter Roxan...

    Media

    Videos 2Backdrops 14Posters 18

    Recommendations

    1. Diamond 13

      Diamond 1354%

    2. As I Open My Eyes

      As I Open My Eyes67%

    3. The Image Book

      The Image Book64%

    4. The Swan

      The Swan69%

    5. Pola X

      Pola X55%

    6. Hospitals: The White Mafia

      Hospitals: The White Mafia67%

    7. Micha denkt groß

      Micha denkt groß52%

    8. Ali's Comeback: The Untold Story

      Ali's Comeback: The Untold Story72%

    9. Preggoland

      Preggoland59%

    10. Santa and Death62%

    11. Donald Cried

      Donald Cried63%

    12. A Sense of History

      A Sense of History73%

    13. La Loi de Christophe, la Ligne blanche

      La Loi de Christophe, la Ligne blanche67%

    14. Happy-Go-Lucky

      Happy-Go-Lucky66%

    15. The Miniaturist

      The Miniaturist74%

    16. Zero Day

      Zero Day74%

    17. The Monitor

      The Monitor58%

    18. Naked

      Naked73%

    19. Steam: The Turkish Bath

      Steam: The Turkish Bath66%

    Facts

    Status

    Released

    Original Language

    English

    Budget

    4500000.00

    Revenue

    13417292.00

    Keywords

    • london, england
    • parent child relationship
    • adoption
    • socially deprived family
    • reunion