Secrets & Lies

Plot synopsis:
The film tells the story of Hortense Cumberbatch, a successful black middle class optometrist in London, who is adopted and has chosen to trace her family history after the death of her adoptive mother. After being warned by public officials about the troubles she could face by tracking her birth mother down, she continues her investigation and is baffled to learn that her birth mother is white but does not resent her and wants to know more about her past. Her birth mother, Cynthia Purley, is working class and downwardly mobile. Hortense meets her and later meets Cynthia's brother, Maurice Purley, a photographer, his wife Monica, and Cynthia's daughter Roxanne, a street cleaner.
At the Purleys', it is evident that severe tensions exist between Roxanne and her mother. Both are frustrated with one another and getting on one another's nerves. Maurice and Monica also experience domestic tensions. Monica comes across as abrupt, but later scenes reveal that she suffers from severe menstrual cramps and Monica makes concerted efforts to placate matters and be contrite. Things are also not well between Maurice and his sister, they are a bit awkward with one another but both look forward to celebrating Roxanne's birthday. Cynthia refers to Maurice affectionately as her little brother and asks him as she always does when he is going to shave. It is clear that Cynthia somehow can survive by the money she receives from Maurice.
Hortense rings Cynthia and asks for a 'Cynthia Rose Purley', and starts talking about a baby "Elizabeth Purley", born in 1968. Cynthia realises that Hortense is her daughter whom she gave up for adoption and hangs up the phone. Hortense is still determined to find out more about her background. She rings Cynthia again and manages to convince her to meet with her. When they finally do, Cynthia feels that a grave mistake has been made. Hortense convinces Cynthia to have a cup of tea. Hortense asks Cynthia to look at a document; she then begins to cry and then states that she is ashamed. Hortense then wants to know who her father is, to which Cynthia refuses to answer.
After a while Hortense and Cynthia have struck up a friendship, which is somewhat noticed by Roxanne after seeing her mother going places but not knowing where, since Cynthia is rather secretive about it. Cynthia mentions the birthday party for Roxanne and also gives Hortense a gift. Cynthia asks Maurice if she can bring a "mate from work" to Roxanne's party. Cynthia relays this information to Hortense who replies that she would feel a bit awkward. Despite these feelings, she agrees to attend and pose as a colleague from work. The day of the barbecue arrives and Monica makes an effort for everyone to feel welcome. Cynthia makes incisive remarks in passing, but making sure that Monica hears them, about the seemingly high expenses that she makes in her house instead of concentrating on giving Maurice a child. Maurice tells Roxanne that she has a good brain and should be in college. Roxanne does not take this suggestion seriously. Everyone gathers for the barbecue and Maurice prepares the food. During the meal Hortense answers many questions which are naturally put to her by the other guests. Hortense says that she is pursuing medical research and endeavours to be evasive. Also present at the barbecue are Maurice's assistant Jane and Roxanne's boyfriend Paul.
When Roxanne blows out her birthday candles Cynthia begins to act in an exceptionally nervous manner. She states that Hortense is her daughter. Everyone dismisses this claim and states that she has had too much to drink. However, when Monica inadvertently confirms this as true, Roxanne is horrified and storms out of the house. Maurice attempts to placate matters by confronting Roxanne at a nearby bus stop. He attempts to convince Roxanne to speak to her mother again and Cynthia apologises to her profusely. Cynthia then explains that she got pregnant at fifteen and her father sent her away due to feeling shame over her pregnancy and after the adoption she never expected Hortense to come back. Cynthia then accuses Monica of being selfish. Maurice reveals that Monica is physically incapable of having children. Maurice then loses his temper and states that he has spent his whole life trying to make people happy and that he cannot take it any more because the ones he loves most "hate each other's guts". After witnessing all this Hortense tries to leave but Maurice stops her, admiring her courage for trying to find her own past, although he will not reveal who her father was either. Cynthia then explains that Roxanne's father was an American medical student vacationing in Benidorm. One morning in Benidorm, Cynthia awoke and he had gone.
After a while things have calmed down and Hortense is free to visit Cynthia and Roxanne at their home. Hortense reveals that she always wanted a sister. Roxanne reveals that she would be happy to introduce Hortense as her half-sister notwithstanding the long explanations that it would entail. They gather for a visit at Cynthia's, and have tea.

Tags: murder

Review:
Down Under isn't all Fun and Games.
Set in a suburban Australian neighborhood, this one-off series follows the story of family man Ben Gundelach, a painter (as in 'paint the basement') whose life spirals into a s**t-storm of suspicion, lies and vigilantism after finding the body of a young, neighborhood boy in the woods on his morning jog.At its core a real whodunit-type story, the plot development serves us a platter of red-herrings in Ben's quest to prove his innocence by discovering the truth, all the while having to deal with characters such as the Suspicious Detective, the Annoying Wife, the Bitchy Teen Daughter, the Womanizing Best-Mate, the vulnerable Victim's Mother across-the-street, and a host of possible-suspect neighbors.
The story does a good job of keeping viewers intrigued, with frequent plot twists, layered characters and will- he-snap, won't-he-snap moments.The cast of C-list actors all fulfill their roles (some better than others), and as the story progresses we catch glimpses of who they all really are.
A few small inconsistencies can be noticed by the keen-eyed viewer, but can be overlooked as most most details fall into place with the concluding episode.So, if you like whodunits, don't mind Aussie accents, can overlook some fairly stock-characters, and have some free time on your hands, by all means give this series a watch.
It's shortcomings are made up for by an interesting story that keeps you guessing, enough tense moments to punctuate the talky-scenes, and a final twist that, while some may find unsatisfactory, certainly comes as a surprise.
As a whodunit, it ticks almost all the boxes.Lets hope its American counterpart, soon to be released, will keep some of the same atmosphere!NR.
Thought it was a great show!.
I, myself found this show to be quite interesting!
The plot is good.
Few complaints would be, felt like they gave away who the murderer was too soon.
They may have done that and canceled the show, but I would have rathered it stay on longer and find out who the real killer is later on, but you will find out on the last episode.
It really is an emotional show.
I cried a few times for the main actor, he really made you feel his pain.
Martin Henderson is great for this role.
He really puts you in his shoes.
Not sure why the show is not continuing and why US has picked it up, just hope the new Secrets and Lies will be as good as the Australian version!
It is definitely worth something to watch, just don't hope for second season cause there won't be any!
the wrong man.
"Secrets & Lies" is an Australian miniseries starring Martin Henderson, Anthony Hayes, Anthony Hayes, and Diana Glenn.Henderson plays Ben Gundelach, a house painter who has two daughters and is in the process of breaking up with his wife (Glenn).
One day while jogging he finds the body of the little boy who lives across the street.
He becomes the main suspect.
And when he submits to a DNA sample, he's in for a big surprise.Ben tries to solve the murder himself as he watches his life disintegrate before him.
Everything he shows the police detective (Hayes) is dismissed.
With an expression that never changes, the chief investigator quietly drives Ben to near insanity.
Very tense story with a twist ending.
Henderson is a hunk with a capital H and does well as a laid back person dumbfounded and confused by what is happening to him as his life spins into more and more chaos.Some of the characters are stereotypes, but for the most part, this is a good, well-acted story that sadly reflects the modern world we live in..
Tried to watch it, too slow.
Watched almost to the end of the first episode, then quit on it.
The main problem I had with this TV show was that every effort was made to make the lead(looks like Kurt Russell when young)look guilty(too guilty)for the murder of the young boy.
Whenever that happens in a TV show these days it is always a red herring, and I am sure he will be proved not to be the killer.
Formula, formula, formula.
And, what I saw of this show was simple and unsophisticated, and not very smart.
Could never align with the lead, as he was so passive as to be almost resigned to whatever happened to him.
Maybe it will get better, but may do so without me watching.I just did not like the way this show was written and presented.
Nice Aussie scenery though.
Cannot invest the required many hours into a slow program like this one waiting for the crime solution that seems a long slog though deep muck..
Great suspense!.
I'm usually good at figuring out "who done it" but this show had me guessing until the very end!!.
surprising twist at the end.
I enjoyed the show with my wife and we didn't know the killer right until the last episode, every episode we were suspecting one person or another and the one person we didn't even think about did it.Well acted by all, love more six part dramas like this and agree about there being slim to none chance for a second series as what would it be about?
But if there was I for one would certainly watch.There was some filler in the first few episodes but you get to expect that with a lot of shows.The police sergeant was very rough and to added a lot more realism to the show as you could see he was disgusted with the character who played Ben all throughout the series and when at the end he realised he hadn't done it he didn't even apologise..
Well crafted show that fell apart in the end.
No payoff..
*NO SPOILERS YET* I will keep the first part of this spoiler free, and will provide fair warning before I divulge any spoilers.
This was a pretty well crafted series.
Cinematography, acting, writing, and directing were all very good.
New bombshells and twists presented themselves around every corner, always keeping the audience guessing.
The finale was incredibly intense.
However, the final twist I just didn't buy, and for me it caused the entire series to fall apart.
In the end, I felt there was no payoff for this series, with an awful ending and a final twist I just didn't feel worked.
Now I am going to start getting into spoilers.
I personally wish I had read spoilers previously, as I probably wouldn't have wasted six hours on this show.
*SPOILERS BEGIN* So the final twist for those who don't know and decided to proceed, is that Ben's youngest daughter Eva is the killer.
Now Eva looked to have been somewhere between 8 and 10 years old.
I know that children kill.
It is hard to believe, and it is a rarity, but it has happened.
Eva was just not developed in the show to be a psychopath though, and the motive given is that she believed killing Tom would cause Jess to leave town (thus saving her parent's marriage).
I guess it's debatable as to whether the ending was plausible.
I just didn't buy it.
And so what are we left with?
A series that showed Ben frantically trying to figure out who killed Tom for six episodes, while his family fell apart and his wife left him, taking the kids.
And in the end he seems to be back together with his wife, but now his youngest daughter is facing prosecution for murder.
What an awful ending.
I just didn't buy it, and felt there was no payoff.
Overall the series is well done, though, hence the three stars given.
I wish I hadn't wasted my time though..
A taut drama about the investigation into the death of a child with a previously unseen villain at the end..
My husband and I watched all six episodes of Secret and Lies (Australian version) and were engaged pretty much through out the whole series.
We did think there was a bit too much histrionics on the part of almost all of the characters.
It seems that they all had turn at being hysterical and screaming and crying with faces all scrunched up.
We knew the main suspect in Thom's death was not going to be the final killer.
But we did not see the ending coming until it was upon us.
It was a sort of after the fact ending, producing a killer who had no attention on him/her at all previously during the series.
The story the killer told in confession was believable enough.....But then he/she had to add one other statement that showed just how dark the killer's heart really was!
This was definitely not a feel-good show!.
Possible spoiler in second paragraph.
Well-acted.
Very good drama.
Good mystery.
Well-cast, but...And this may be a spoiler: The ending ruined the whole season for me.
I was so put off by "who-dun-it", I wish I hadn't wasted my time on the first episode.
Most of the story is centered around a man accused of murdering a young boy.
He faces distrust from the police and even most of his own family.
Time and again he stumbles upon a clue that might vindicate him, only to be knocked down.
With all this struggle and suspense, I just knew there would be a satisfying pay-off in the end.
But I would have preferred general dissatisfaction to the wretched wrap-up of this story.I'm guessing the writer of this story has a very bleak picture of humanity.
My advice is to stay away from "Secrets and Lies".