Secrets And Lies

Director: Mike Leigh
Film4 Archive

Mike Leigh's Oscar-nominated, bittersweet comedy-drama starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste & Brenda Blethyn

Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a young, black optometrist whose adoptive parents have recently dies. Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) is a sad, unmarried mother who works in a factory and lives in a shabby terraced house with her confrontational daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). Cynthia's brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) is a successful photographer who lives comfortably in suburbia with his wife Monica (Phyllis Logan). In a misplaced effort to re-unite the family, Maurice and Monica throw a small barbecue party for Roxanne's 21st birthday. When Cynthia brings along her new friend Hortense, chaos ensues as some painful truths are revealed.
 

Awards

Secrets And Lies was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1997: Picture, Lead Actress, Supporting Actress, Director and Original Screenplay. The film won Best British Film, Original Screenplay and Lead Actress at the BAFTA Film Awards.