El secreto de sus ojos

Plot synopsis:
(Note: in this summary, last names describe the characters in the fictionalized novel of the 1970's history of law enforcement officer Benjamín "Espósito", first names describe the people in retiree "Benjamin" Espósito's modern world.)
Retiree Benjamín Espósito is having trouble getting started on his first novel. He pays a visit to the offices of Judge Irene Menéndez Hastings to tell her about his plans to recount the story of the Liliana Coloto case, the one they both worked on 25 years before, when Irene was his new department chief and he was the federal agent assigned to the case. Irene suggests that Benjamin start at the beginning.
The beginning marks the discovery of Coloto's body, raped and murdered in her home in 1974. Espósito promises her widower, Ricardo Morales, that the killer will do life for his crime. Morales states that he opposes the death penalty. Espósito's investigation is joined by his alcoholic friend and assistant, Pablo Sandoval, and the Cornell Law School-educated Menéndez. Before the three can start, their rival, Romano, tries to show them up by having officers beat a confession out of two innocent laborers, who had been working near the couple's apartment. Espósito has the confessions overturned and lashes out at Romano in a justice building hall. Espósito threatens to file a complaint as Romano racially insults the construction workers.
Back on the case, Espósito notices that pictures from Coloto's home town of Chivilcoy frequently show a man named Isidoro Gómez whose eyes never leave her. Although Irene is skeptical, Benjamín insists all of a young man's feeling for a woman is spoken there. Seeing that Gómez has disappeared, Espósito and Sandoval travel to Chivilcoy and sneak into Gómez's mother's house, where they find his letters to her. Sandoval steals them but they contain nothing useful and, when their supervising judge learns of the illegal action, the case is closed. Over an evening review of the manuscript, Benjamín reminds Irene that it was only one week later that she announced her engagement. He also recalls backing out of a conversation with her in which he was about to shut the door. The memory is poignant, and Irene decides that she cannot revisit the past through his novel anymore.
The case is reopened after a year when Espósito sees that Morales maintains daily surveillance of Buenos Aires railway stations looking for Gómez. After receiving Menéndez's approval, Sandoval studies the letters and notices references to the players of Racing Football Club in Buenos Aires. Espósito and Sandoval attend four matches of Racing until they are able to spot Gómez in the crowd. Gómez leads the police through a chase before being arrested. Menéndez is able to break Gómez by making taunting remarks about him being too weak to commit the crime. Feeling emasculated, Gómez exposes his penis and shouts a confession.
In 1975, the widower sees his wife's killer on television, included in a security detail for the president of Argentina, María Estela Martínez de Perón. Menéndez and Espósito quickly establish that Romano, now working for a government intelligence agency, released the murderer out of spite. Romano claims that Gómez has violent talents that should be used to combat left wing guerrillas instead of being squandered in prison. Romano insults them both, taunting Espósito for being beneath Menéndez. Undeterred, she later invites Espósito to offer his objections to her impending marriage plans later that night. Before they can meet, however, he has to leave a very intoxicated Sandoval in his living room to fetch his wife. When they return, they find Sandoval murdered. Espósito assumes he was the target of either Romano or Gómez and accepts the remote isolation of Jujuy Province. Late one night, while contemplating the sacrifice of his lost friend Pablo, Benjamín gets a call from Irene asking to see the rest of his book. Menéndez takes him to the train station for a disconsolate goodbye.
When Irene finishes reading, she and Benjamin still seek inspiration for a suitable ending. They are able to locate Ricardo Morales leading a quiet life in a rural area of Buenos Aires Province. Although the widower apparently has relinquished his obsession with the murder case, Benjamín has to ask him how he has lived without the love of his life for 25 years. When Benjamín repeats Pablo's final promise to get Isidoro, Ricardo hesitantly confesses that in 1975 he kidnapped Isidoro and shot him dead. Feeling that something is not right, Benjamín follows Ricardo to a small building near the main house, where he is shocked to find Isidoro living in a makeshift cell, undetectable from the outside. Isidoro begs for human contact and Ricardo reminds Benjamín of his promise that Isidoro would never go free. Benjamín pays his respects at Pablo's grave, then goes to see Irene with an evident sense of purpose. She notices something different in his eyes, reminds him that it will be complicated, and asks him to close the door.

Tags: boring, cruelty, murder, mystery, dramatic, violence, flashback, romantic, revenge

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