Search - Secrets and Lies

A family is forced to confront the personal issues they've been avoiding for years in this powerful, realistic drama. Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) is a working-class British woman whose life has been a long series of painful disappointments. She's single with no romantic prospects and a dead-end job at a box factory. Her daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook) works as a street sweeper and is chronically bitter. Cynthia helped raise her brother, Maurice (Timothy Spall), who is doing well as a photographer, but she rarely sees him and usually blames his wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan). One day, Cynthia receives a phone call from a woman named Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who claims to be the daughter Cynthia put up for adoption years ago. Cynthia initially reacts with panic, but she agrees to meet Hortense and is surprised to discover that she's a successful and soft-spoken eye doctor -- and that she's black. Cynthia is soon convinced that Hortense is just who she claims to be, and they quickly form a friendship that gives Cynthia a new source of emotional strength. However, when Cynthia decides to introduce the family to her new "friend," it forces them to confront the lies and evasions that have kept them apart all these years. Largely improvised by director Mike Leigh and his cast, Secrets & Lies features standout work by Brenda Blethyn (who earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (who was nominated as Best Supporting Actress), and Timothy Spall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Brenda Blethyn - Cynthia
Marianne Jean-Baptiste - Hortense
Phyllis Logan - Monica
Timothy Spall - Maurice
Claire Rushbrook - Roxanne

1996	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (winner)	Golden Globe	Brenda Blethyn
1996	Best Actress (winner)	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Brenda Blethyn
1996	Best Director (winner)	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Mike Leigh
1996	Best Director (nominee)	Directors Guild of America	Mike Leigh
1996	Best Actress (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Brenda Blethyn
1996	Best Director (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Mike Leigh
1996	Best Original Screenplay (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Mike Leigh
1996	Best Picture (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Simon Channing-Williams
1996	Best Supporting Actress (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Marianne Jean-Baptiste
1996	Best Actress (winner)	Cannes Film Festival	Brenda Blethyn
1996	Best Director (Runner-up) (winner)	National Society of Film Critics	Mike Leigh
1996	Best Actress - Runner-up (winner)	National Society of Film Critics	Brenda Blethyn
1996	Best Actress (nominee)	Screen Actors Guild	Brenda Blethyn

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