SummaryRecently retired criminal court investigator Benjamin, decides to write a novel based on a twenty-five year old unresolved rape and murder case, which still haunts him. Sharing his plans with Irene, the beautiful judge and former colleague he has secretly been in love with for years, Benjamin’s initial involvement with the case is shown through f... Read More
Directed By:Juan José Campanella
Written By:Eduardo Sacheri, Juan José Campanella
The Secret in Their Eyes
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.4
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
89% Positive
33 Reviews
33 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
8% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
100
Humane and harrowing, highly recommended. This one will stay with you.
100
Juan Jose Campanella is the writer-director, and here is a man who creates a complete, engrossing, lovingly crafted film. He is filled with his stories. The Secret in Their Eyes is a rebuke to formula screenplays. We grow to know the characters, and the story pays due respect to their complexities and needs.
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.4
89% Positive
175 Ratings
175 Ratings
9% Mixed
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
2% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Jun 10, 2025
10
El secreto de sus ojos is one of those rare films that balances emotional depth, political weight, and a story that stays with you long after it's over. It's not about figuring out who committed the crime, we learn that halfway through. It's about what happens next: how justice gets twisted, how people become consumed by the past, and how some wounds never **** story moves between the 1970s and the 1990s in Argentina. That time jump isn’t just for plot, it shows how deeply the country changed (or didn’t). In the ’70s, Argentina was under a brutal dictatorship, and you can feel that tension in every frame: the fear, the silence, the corruption. The city looks worn down, the institutions broken. In the ’90s, things look more stable on the surface, but the trauma is still there. That’s the world Ricardo Darín’s character lives in, one where justice was never served and time didn’t fix anything. Darín is incredible, as always. His character, Benjamín, is haunted, not just by the murder, but by everything around it: the love he never acted on, the system that failed him, and the past he can’t let go of. Guillermo Francella, though, is the heart of the film. He gives it soul, humor, and tragedy all in one. The soccer monologue about the significante of passion is incredible. Easily his best role. The writing and direction are sharp. Every detail matters. The way the film uses color, especially red, to represent love, violence, and obsession is powerful without being overdone. And the structure, jumping between past and present, keeps you fully engaged while slowly revealing what happened. And then there’s the ending. That final plot twist is one of the most unforgettable I’ve ever seen. It’s not just shocking, it completely reframes everything you thought you understood about the story and the characters. It lands with the kind of emotional weight that very few films ever achieve. It’s emotional, intelligent, and absolutely unforgettable.Also, please don’t confuse this with the American remake. It doesn’t even come close. Score: 10/10
Sep 14, 2022
10
THE GOOD: A complete masterpiece. One of the best screenplays/adaptations in the history of cinema. Darín and Villamil are unbelievable. Marvellous colour-pallette, impressive editing and, of course, some great argentinian humour. THE BAD: Absolutely nothing.
90
A riveting Argentine thriller spiked with witty dialogue and poignant love stories.
88
Although it is structured like a thriller, and its plot dominated by Benjamin's detective work, The Secret in Their Eyes is really a cautionary tale about the consequences of a life of too much apprehension and propriety.
75
Although it has some memorably disquieting scenes, this story of long-delayed justice is sustained by its melancholy more than its thrills.
Nov 30, 2015
70
It’s a cop movie that’s largely uninterested in cops, crimes, or criminals. And yet, despite all that, the film is at times an effective, evocative mood piece. The funereal pall of sorrow that hangs over everything these characters do has a strange, surprising pull.
20
Campanella, who overconfidently takes his time, outfits the film with ludicrous interrogation scenes, a drunken colleague who provides comic relief and redemptive tragedy, and a climactic flood of memories that plays like a trailer.
Sep 21, 2013
10
A thrilling story with great twists and turns which will keep you hooked until one of the greatest movie endings I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying.
Oct 25, 2019
5
I can not find why this film have this good rate. Th story was not bad, but i think the director didn’t success to make the film...
Sep 5, 2016
2
It is the first time I registered to write a review on a film database as I am so disappointed of the film and wasting two hours of my life, so that now I am even spending a half an hour more for a review, what an injustice! The film is such a cliché. I did not believe in the main idea of the plot twist – the reconstruction of the past by writing a novel. Not a minute. The love story of those lawyers was so dull and had a predictable end that almost made me cry. Last ten minutes caught my attention as the mystery was resolved, but please don't say it was something new and unexpected. The acting of that young husband was senseless, so you could only believe from main character's words, that he was in such a big love – this was not possible to understand due to character's lack of emotions. And a make-up! These wrinkles around their eyes – what a disaster. And so on, and so on. Unbelievable. How can this have a score of 8.6, come on – 8.6? Really? And how could you, BBC, how did you dare including The Secret... to the list of 100 greatest films of the 21st Century, how? I will not able to fall asleep if I do not find a reasonable answer why even The New Yorker rated it 100! And what is the point of their eyes? Did not see any difference in any eyes of heroes comparing with other mystery dramas. Or is it due to these artificial unconvincing wrinkles?.. 2 points go for the football stadium scene, which was interestingly shot indeed. After this evening apparently gonna enjoy books and reading celibacy for months as this piece almost destroyed my believe in cinema, user scores and authority of critique.
Nov 20, 2015
0
ok, here I go again trashing a movie where, it seems, others rave on about it. From the previews I'd seen a month or so ago, I thought I was in for a chase-suspense-payback thriller. Instead, I got a bunch of scenes with Kidman still looking hot and her co-starlet (sorry to say, Mr Gere) "Repugnant Woman" looking constantly forlorn, troubled, miscast and dull --- the dialogue came quick and seemingly pointless at times and the end turned into a rather silly thing...dare I call it a twisted, surprise ending? --- bad boy in a cage...Julia, you repugnant psycho you!!! The flashbacks came and went so quickly, one had to either measure hot kidman's hair or pay attn to what's-his-name's salt and slightly peppered hair in order to, dare I say, follow along??? A mosque, a stable, a baseball game, a chopshop, a cage.....I couldn't wait for this to end---I guess I need to see the French version (with or without subtitles---it wouldn't matter).
Production Company:
- Tornasol Films
- Haddock Films
- 100 Bares
- Televisión Federal (Telefe)
- Televisión Española (TVE)
- Canal+ España
- Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA)
- Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA)
- Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO)
- El secreto de Sus Ojos
- Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA)
Release Date:Apr 16, 2010
Duration:2 h 7 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Un crimen sin castigo. Un amor puro. Una historia que no debe morir. [A crime without a punishment. A pure love. A story that must not die.]
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina
• 13 Wins & 17 Nominations
Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards
• 11 Wins & 14 Nominations
