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Paris is known for its timeless beauty. It’s a magical city of art, style, and romance. When you see a movie that’s set in Paris, you expect that beauty to come shining through. But director Charlie Stratton’s In Secret manages to turn the City of Light into a city of darkness, depression, and despair—for both the film’s characters and its audience.
Based on Émile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin, In Secret is a grim drama about Thérèse (Elizabeth Olsen), an orphaned young woman who’s forced to marry her sickly cousin, Camille (Tom Felton), and move with him and his mother (Jessica Lange) to a drab new home in 1860s Paris.
Thérèse dutifully goes through the motions until she meets Camille’s handsome friend and colleague, Laurent (Oscar Isaac). The two begin a passionate affair—and when Camille decides to move his family back to the country, the desperate couple come up with a deadly plot that will keep them together.
Though it seems to promise romance, intrigue, and suspense, In Secret is a beautifully acted but oppressively dreary film. For a while, it’s quietly seductive, as Thérèse’s monotonous existence in the cold and dingy city is broken up by weekly domino nights with her aunt’s friends—and, more importantly, with the wildly attractive young artist. But after she and Laurent begin their affair, their frequent trysts quickly become dull and tedious.
Perhaps, however, these scenes were overplayed as a kind of favor to audiences—because they’re the only moments of anything close to happiness for poor, downtrodden Thérèse. In the beginning, she’s lonely and bored. After she and Laurent begin putting their plan into motion, she’s haunted and guilt-stricken. And, from there, the story is just a downward spiral of misery, set against a grimy period setting.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all of this backstabbing and deception, it’s hard to find a truly likable character. Though she may have your sympathy for a while, Thérèse quickly goes from exploited orphan to double-crossing wife to bitter co-conspirator. Camille is selfish and awkward. His mother is overbearing and cruel. And Laurent is brash and shady. So after the seduction and suspense all but fade away, there’s very little left to keep audiences captivated.
In the end, only the cast members’ solid performances help to bring just a little bit of light to an otherwise bleak film. Olsen and Isaac both give noteworthy performances—and Felton manages to prove that he’s more than just Harry Potter’s nemesis. But the thin story and grim setting make for an exhausting experience. So unless you’re willing to spend the rest of the day feeling moody and miserable, it’s just not worth subjecting yourself to this ill-fated romance.
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