BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Argemaluco Director Amy Berg is better known for documentaries such as Deliver Us from Evil and West of Memphis; that might be the reason why her dramatic debut, Every Secret Thing, feels a bit dry and impersonal despite its sordid story and the scabrous themes it handles. Nevertheless, I found it a competent thriller with a good atmosphere and excellent performances. The chain of causes and consequences in the screenplay of Every Secret Thing is interesting, but the film lacks of the energy and expressiveness which would have made it genuinely transcendent. Berg might have feared her reserved thriller to become a sensationalist TV movie from Lifetime, and because of that, she took a special care with the level of emotions and the volume of the drama, something I truly appreciate... however, that decision slowed down the impetus of the film a bit, and the final result is an entertaining, but not completely satisfactory, movie. As for the actors, Elizabeth Banks brings a brilliant work in which she proves her big talent outside the comedy once more; Diane Lane perfectly displays a good level of threat in her character, something completely different to her usual roles as victim or comprehensive wife; Dakota Fanning is used to playing this kind of solemn and tortured characters, but that doesn't make her performance less solid; and Danielle Macdonald is an authentic revelation, simultaneously displaying tragedy, optimism and a certain cruelty. With a less shy director, Every Secret Thing could have been a much more memorable film; but in its current state, it's a decent movie which preferred narrative moderation over emotional impact. I respect that decision, but the film didn't reach the potential suggested by its disturbing story. I hope that Berg will be able to find the adequate balance between her analytical instinct and the necessary passion to bring the material to life in her next dramatic project.

office-163-137989 I saw this last night on TV (granted I missed the first part of the film), but I didn't understand half of what was really going on. Some reviews here talk about a big "twist" at the end - there was no twist I saw. The filming was so dark throughout, you could barely see whatever was going on in key scenes, and so cryptic in dialog in key scenes, you didn't really get it. All you got was how dark and depressed everyone is: the bad guys, the victims, the cops - the whole town!SPOILERS BELOW:1. Did Dakota Fanning's character kill herself in the tub? or was she just soaking in the tub? 2. We don't see the dead child or anything recognizable in the dark hiding place so we have no idea what Elizabeth Banks' is seeing - we are only guessing and surmising thru the whole thing. And what led her to go there? 3. Why is Diane Lane's character, so fawning over Dakota Fanning while trashing her own daughter constantly? 4. How is it blithely passed off in the last moments that the kidnapped kid was being kept by another adult woman with no one noticing and she's never held to account for this? 5. Why is Alice giving a vindicated speech on the courthouse steps when she is the kidnapper? Who cares that she gave away her real kid years before and this somehow justifies kidnapping??? 6. Did they just leave the first child to die? or did Dakota Fanning actually do something (what?) to kill it because she was bullied by Alice?To me, if you are bored, give this a viewing, but I certainly wouldn't waste my time wanting to watch it again.

austenyoung-233-322573 Where to start. I was blown away by this film from start to finish. Its not an action epic and its not a jump a minute thriller. Its a solid story about horrible people doing horrible things and ensuring that those around them think they are wonderful.The film was hard to watch and actually left me feeling fairly unpleasant when the credits roll, I can only assume this was director Amy Bergs intention. I have not read the book so I cant speak to how closely it follows the source material and I don't think it hindered my viewing of this film in the least.the film weaves seamlessly between past and present never causing confusion or convoluting what's going on. If your a fan of great story telling, super believable acting and drama to spare this is for you.I am well aware that I've not actually described anything in the film as the synopsis at the top of the page does that, instead I've decided to describe the quality of the film in both story and direction. A solid 9 for me.

A_Different_Drummer Forget the movie.Don't mean to be blunt, but that is reviewer-speak for a film which has great ambitions but never quite gels. The sound track is horrible. It gets under your skin from the very first scene and makes you wish you were anywhere else but in the threatre. Fanning and Lane, ordinarily two standouts, seems lost to a director -- formerly specializing in documentaries -- who goes out of her way to make each scene "authentic" but in fact ends up making merely them awkward and uncomfortable and atonal.I believe this film will be remembered -- if it is remembered at all -- as another feather in the cap of Elizabeth Banks who seems determined to show Hollywood her range. She did a solid job in the under-rated screwball comedy WALK OF SHAME, she has a production credit in Pitch Perfect II (where she gave herself the role of the unctuous color commentator, a trick that goes all the way back to Rocky) and here she pulls a "Rachel McAdams" goes no-makeup in the role of a detective ... and pulls it off nicely.Banks is the one to watch.