''Secret in Their Eyes'' is a 2015

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Billy Ray and a remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name, both based on the novel ''La pregunta de sus ojos'' by Eduardo Sacheri. A co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Spain, the film stars

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emm ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

, and

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across various genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Award ...

, with Dean Norris, Michael Kelly, Joe Cole, and

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award ...

in supporting roles. The film was released by STXfilms on November 20, 2015. It received a mixed reception from critics, who praised its performances but compared it unfavorably to the original.

Plot

In 2002, shortly after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Ray Kasten, a

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

agent for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, and his friend Jessica "Jess" Cobb, an investigator for the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

's office, meet new

ADA Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

Claire Sloan. Jess and Ray receive a call about an unknown female body found in a dumpster near a local

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, which Ray has been investigating for possible terrorist links. At the crime scene, both are devastated to discover that the victim is Jess's 18-year-old daughter, Carolyn, whose body has been bleached inside and out to destroy DNA evidence of both rape and murder. Ray, who was supposed to meet Carolyn to plan a surprise party for Jess but was late due to work conflicts, feels responsible for her death, while Jess feels the increasing need to move out of the city. While helping Jess pack, Ray notices pictures from a picnic thrown for law enforcement in which a young man is seen staring at Carolyn. Ray scans the photo and matches it to Anzor Marzin, who is an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

in the terrorism probe. DA Martin Morales is reluctant to go after Marzin, fearing it would compromise the terrorism investigation. Officer Reggie Siefert brings in a suspect named Aban Ghazala, who Ray realizes is not the killer. Ray forces Siefert to admit that he set up Ghazala as a

patsy Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, or Patrice). Among Italian A ...

to protect Marzin. Ray and Detective Bumpy Willis track down and arrest Marzin at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

. Claire argues with Ray over his methods while taunting Marzin by claiming he wasn’t capable of the crime, provoking him to expose himself, confess to the crime, and attack Claire. Ray beats Marzin, which leads to Morales ordering Marzin released. As Marzin gloats, an enraged Ray suggests they kill him before he gets away, but Jess refuses to go that route, saying death would be too easy on him. After his release, the police find Marzin's van, but Siefert burns it to destroy the evidence against Marzin. Thirteen years later, Ray, now head of security for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, returns to Los Angeles and reunites with Claire, now the DA, while Jess, who has been asocial since the loss of her daughter, is Claire's top investigator. Ray has found a man named Clay Beckwith, who he believes is Marzin living under an alias. The investigation eventually leads to a shootout with Beckwith in which Siefert is killed. Beckwith and his men are arrested, but Jess insists that Beckwith is not Marzin. When Ray and Claire pay a visit to Jess's isolated farmhouse, she confesses that she found and killed Marzin thirteen years previously, shortly after Ray left Los Angeles. Later, Ray follows Jess into her barn and discovers that Marzin is actually alive, having been imprisoned in a cage for over a decade. Marzin begs Ray to ask Jess to talk to him. Ray pulls out his gun and leaves it with Jess as he goes outside and starts digging a grave. Ray hears Jess shooting Marzin. The two meet each other with a sense of relief while Claire officially closes Carolyn's case.

Cast

as Raymond "Ray" Kasten *

as Claire Sloan *

as Jessica "Jess" Cobb * Dean Norris as Bumpy Willis * Michael Kelly as Reginald "Reg" Siefert * Joe Cole as Anzor Marzin / Clay Beckwith * Zoe Graham as Carolyn Cobb *

as Martín Morales * Lyndon Smith as Kit * Don Harvey as Fierro *

Mark Famiglietti Mark Famiglietti (born ) is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer and author. He is best known for appearing in television shows such as ''Hang Time'' and ''Young Americans''. He also appeared in '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' ...

as Duty Sergeant Jacobs *

Ross Partridge Ross Partridge (born February 26, 1968) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. His most notable work as a director is the 2015 adaptation of the book '' Lamb'', which Partridge wrote, starred in and directed. As an actor, h ...

as Ellis

Production

On January 20, 2015,

STX Entertainment STX Entertainment is an American independent entertainment and media company. Founded in March 2014 by film producer Robert Simonds and TPG Growth managing partner Bill McGlashan, the studio produces film, television, and digital media projec ...

acquired the US rights to the film. STX also produced the film.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on January 26, 2015, in

. On January 27, filming took place at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

Release

STX had initially scheduled the film for release on October 23, 2015, but in July 2015, the film was moved back to its eventual November 20, 2015 release date. The film's first trailer was released on June 30, 2015.

Home media

''Secret in Their Eyes'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on February 23, 2016, by

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

Reception

Box office

''Secret in Their Eyes'' grossed $20.2 million in North America and $12 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $32.2 million, against a budget of $19.5 million. In North America, the film opened alongside '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2'' and '' The Night Before'' on November 20, 2015. In its opening weekend, it was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,392 theaters. The film made $170,000 from its early Thursday night screenings and $2.3 million on its first day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $6.7 million, finishing fifth at the box office.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Secret in Their Eyes'' wastes its incredible cast on a remake that fails to improve upon—or even make a compelling case for its own existence in addition to—the remarkable original." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Writer Manuel Betancour of

Remezcla Remezcla is an American media company focusing on the Latin American cultural sphere. It serves the millennial market. History The brand was founded by Claire Frisbie, Andrew Herrera and Nuria Net in 2006, had no outside funding; it first re ...

said the film "offers a textbook example of what often gets lost in translation when foreign films are remade for American audiences."

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret In Their Eyes 2015 films 2015 crime thriller films 2015 psychological thriller films 2010s mystery thriller films American crime thriller films American mystery thriller films American police detective films American psychological thriller films American remakes of Argentine films American remakes of Spanish films British crime thriller films British mystery thriller films British psychological thriller films South Korean crime thriller films South Korean mystery thriller films South Korean psychological thriller films Spanish crime thriller films Spanish mystery thriller films Spanish psychological thriller films English-language Spanish films English-language South Korean films Films about lawyers American films about revenge British films about revenge South Korean films about revenge Spanish films about revenge Films based on adaptations Films based on Argentine novels Films based on crime novels Films directed by Billy Ray Films set in 2002 Films set in 2015 Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Billy Ray IM Global films STX Entertainment films Universal Pictures films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language crime thriller films English-language mystery thriller films