Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Le secret is not only an emotional exploration of relationships, both marital and extramarital, but also provides a stark reflection on one woman's search for a life of perfection and fulfilment. This focus and move away from the traditional marriage narrative is what renders Le Secret different from other films of its genre. Coesens plays Marie, a confused mother who turns to American Bill for what to the spectator seems to be mainly for adventurous sex. Le Secret's narrative holds back much of the emotional drive resulting in Marie's affair and without Coesen's subtle yet telling acting the viewer would be lost in her intense personal struggle. To an extent, the ambiguous nature of Marie's emotions towards her husband and lover give the viewer a certain freedom to interpret her relationships for themselves. Even the end of the film, in which Marie and Francois seem to reunite carries an ambiguity and uncertainty with it. The often reserved nature of the script and acting provides a welcome change and challenge in a genre which is often overly predictable and simplified. Much of the dialogue between Marie and her lovers is refreshingly realistic in its uncertainty and honesty.

The 3 stars I give this are for the performances - little else is worthy of respect. The direction and cinematography are completely flat, and the script is a mixed bag.Where the film really falls apart though is in the behaviour of the central character. We begin with a woman who has apparently spent 12 years happily married (at least the couple appear happy at the start of the film), and who remained faithful during that time, save one brief kiss with a neighbour. She begins an affair with a man she meets whilst working, and instantly becomes an entirely new character - one that feels no guilt or sympathy towards her husband, in fact who seems to actively seek to humiliate him, and who almost allows her child to fall to its death. No explanation for this U turn into an amoral narcissist is even hinted at, and the character's own explanation consists of little more than a brief burst of existentialist waffle at the end of the film. Ultimately, the character is completely unbelievable, as her actions are irreconcilable with her history.

i think the movie wisely displays the act of betraying a husband, without commenting it too much. it explains with little hints how passion (and essential thoughts coming with the act) take over the life of the protagonist. with that parallel relationship she finds the time to see what she needs, what the physical contacts really mean for her, so it helped me to understand a bit more of the mind of such persons. contrary to another comment, i for myself don't think it's really unrealistic, but the movie just shows how secretive people go through deep private experiences, and while they do so, they'll eventually clash with people who, if they're normally open and talkative and get confronted with this, turn into anxious, unsure and possessive partners in such relationships. the movie is a bit light though on that aspect, it's a bit shallow overall on psychology and it will depend on your own thoughts and considerations after to fill it in in a way, on that side.

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.