★★★★
Rule of thumb: every great foreign film eventually gets an American remake. Annoying and superfluous as they tend to be, they sometimes find synergy with the right creatives, and wonderful things happen.
Take the 2009 Argentinian Oscar winner The Secret In Their Eyes, add a skilled adaptation screenwriter (Billy Ray) and three Oscar favourites for the cast, and you have a blood-chilling winner on your hands.
In the midst of New York’s early-2000s terrorism paranoia, FBI investigators Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts) are thrown into chaos when Jess’ daughter Caroline is found raped and murdered. 13 years later, Ray seeks out a former colleague and love interest, Claire (Nicole Kidman) to reopen the case and finally bring the killer to justice.
Plot-wise, it may seem like a by-the-numbers cop thriller, but from the opening montage – in which we witness mercifully brief snapshots of Caroline’s murder – there’s an edge to this film that’s missing from many of its peers. Partly, this is down to the quality of the source material and director Billy Ray’s excellent adaptation, but really, it all comes down to the performances.
Roberts gives another mesmerising performance as the heartbroken mother; after Caroline’s death, Jess remains in a waking coma state for much of the film. Not only does she look exactly as worn and broken as she should, but there’s an unquenchable fury that drives her from the film’s opening to its spine-tingling end.
As for Ejiofor and Kidman, they have a surprisingly awkward chemistry – Ray’s inability to talk straight to the object of his affections alternates between creepy and endearing. Kidman, for her own part, has never lacked the power to make you believe this person could very well indeed rise to the rank of district attorney.
Though Ray’s obsession drives the plot, we’re not made to feel as if this vigilante behavior is the ‘right’ way to go, just the only logical path for this man. The director’s capacity to balance judgment – to keep emotions aside in how we view the protagonists’ actions, yet to make our blood boil from systemic corruption and injustice – shows great potential, as this is his directorial debut.
With a cold, cautious gaze and emotional punch, Secret In Their Eyes sneaks in just in time for awards season, and don’t be surprised if you see Roberts up for another gong.
Secret In Their Eyesopens in cinemas on Thursday November 19.
