Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Supafly I sincerely wish I wouldn't throw 2 hours of my life, on this awful piece of sound and motion, they dared to call a movie.The only normal thing is the acting of the husband (Michel Bompoil) and the black lover(Tony Todd), which is good.Everything else is just bad. The script is half baked and repetitive at times. Directing is more suitable to "B" movies.During the movie I just waited for it to end, and the only reason I kept watching is my hope for something extraordinary at the end, but the end is even worse the the rest of the movie.I give it 1.5 out of 5.I do not usually comment on movies, but this one was so wrong, that considering its rating I must warn others to stay away.

cogs "Le Secret" is a fairly mediocre French film which focuses on a woman's attempt to find some existentialist truth, or some such crap, through the exploration of rather graphic sex. In that sense it is a little like Brellait's "Romance" but it seems to lack that film's intensity of design. So for the most part it seems distanced and closed. There is an expectation of the conclusion which is not met and the film is to some extent redeemed by this (unexpected?) ending but what has come before makes the film as a whole unbearable. Also, the acting and writing is pretty average.

mmm-16 Marie, trim bordering on skeletal, is married to only slightly dull François, who wants a 2nd child, (Marie doesn't but doesn't know why) (the 2 year old son comes up with some of the best acting in the film - how do they get them to do it?).In the course of her work as an encyclopaedia sales person (echoes of Paper Moon) Marie meets Bill, a big black American who lives alone in a villa and seemingly never goes out.She is simultaneously intrigued and put off by his large direct presence. Gradually the intrigue wins and she overtly seduces him (echoes of Belle du Jour). Mind blowing, graphic, complicated and frequent sex ensues.It seems as though what Marie is getting from the relationship is more important to her than her husband (desolate), child (confused and weepy) or invalid mother (disapproving, though at least seems to show a flicker of understanding when Marie explains the attraction of sex with Bill being that Bill "invades" her).The story fairly bowls along and Ann Coesens (Marie) is riveting throughout. The best acting in the course of sex I have ever seen.The sex is not at all pornographic, actually - although pretty graphic, it serves to explore Marie's motivation rather than titillate.Bill is something of a cypher: the figure of Temptation. Marie is given much more space to develop than any of the other characters - but Cousens' performance fills the screen.Recommended.

Michael Calwell 'Le Secret' is a frustrating film. You know it must be doing something right because you walk away emotionally exhausted, and with the sense that you have seen something of the human condition expounded. At the same time it is wanting in enough ways to undermine its claim to greatness. It is wanting dynamically to such a large extent that, whilst it is a good script and a good story, it it is not a good film. And as a piece of narrative, it is inconclusive, and not in the sense that it terminates with a poignant and provocative question. Arguably this is a film which could be remade, utilising the same script and the same cast, but using different artistic and technical direction. The camerawork adds nothing to the film. It creates no tension, no atmosphere, does not enhance the mood or emulate the powerful experiences of the characters. It is flat, weak and pedestrian. The film lacks any geography and fails to resound the timing of events (essential in a film about this subject). In short, its elements are powerful, but its construction is poor. It lacks focus. The film treads a clumsy path between an intense emotional struggle that borders on the surreal, and an ambivalent realism. It achieves neither. The direction needs to be more decisive, it needs to choose one over the other; and it needs to employ the camera more effectively to realise it. There is no differentiation in the filming between the house of the lover and the family home. Additionally we get no sense of atmosphere of either one. There is none of the seduction in the former, or of tedium in the latter, that the protagonist might be feeling. Are we supposed to believe that Marie is having fantastic sex with Bill? If so, it is only through her inadequately exposed acting. What keeps Marie coming back? Only she knows. What is driving her to maintain this relationship? We can only speculate, because the film gives us little insight into the personalisation of her experience. Additionally, the conclusion is weak and vacillating. However, this film will undoubtedly touch a nerve with anyone who has been in a similar situation. It powerfully depicts the insidious destructiveness of infidelity on both the individual, the family, and to some extent society. To conclude, a wasted opportunity, with much unrealised potential.