Secret in Their Eyes (2015) |
A tight-knit team of rising investigators, along with their supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.
Director:
Billy RayStars:
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts |Storyline
2002: Ray Kasten (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess Cooper (Julia Roberts) are two investigations in a private police unit led by the DA. When they receive an anonymous tip about a girl raped and killed, they rush to the scene. Ray realizes it is Jess' daughter and the team falls apart due to the grief. In 2015, Ray comes back to LA, and says that after 13 years, he has found a lead and convinces the DA to reopen the case. They find clues and leads unknown to them, and secrets from the past come to light as they start discovering the real, chilling truth. Meanwhile, Jess, unsatisfied with the law, decides to take matters into her own hands and track down the killer, no matter what lengths she has to go to.
Ejiofor plays Ray, an FBI agent determined to find the killer, and he plays it dark with touches of light humor, that allows us to like the character more, even as he juggles his obsession with the case with his attraction to the new DA, Claire played by Nicole Kidman. The relationship between Ray and Claire was done well and made it interesting to watch.
Ejiofor also showcases this balance as he investigates the case with Bumpy Willis, played by Dean Norris of Breaking Bad fame.
Julia Roberts gave a great performance in the film as the mother whose daughter was murdered and also happens to be a fellow FBI investigator. She seem unafraid to glam it down in order to fully get into the character of a grieving mother.
I understand that Secret in Their Eyes was adapted from a foreign film, but without seeing that film, I thought the overall experience of watching this film was great. It's a good look about what obsession and the need fro redemption can do to you and it was filled with a lot of twist and turns that keep you guessing, like a good murder mystery should.