HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Secret'' (french: Si j'étais toi; ) is a 2007 French thriller film directed by
Vincent Perez Vincent Perez (born 10 June 1964) is a Swiss actor, director and photographer. He played the title character, Ashe Corven, in '' The Crow: City of Angels'', and starred in ''Queen of the Damned'', playing Marius de Romanus. Some of his films in ...
and starring
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
,
Olivia Thirlby Olivia Jo Thirlby (born October 6, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Leah in the comedy-drama film ''Juno'' (2007),Louie, Rebecca (June 28, 2008).Olivia Thirlby is smoking in 'The Wackness'". '' Daily News, location ...
, and
Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films '' Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s ...
. It is a remake of
Yōjirō Takita Yōjirō Takita (滝田 洋二郎 ''Takita Yōjirō'', born December 4, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker. Takita received an Academy Awards, Oscar for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Best Foreign Language Film for his 2008 drama '' ...
's ''
Himitsu ''Naoko'' is a novel by Keigo Higashino. The original title is . The novel won the 52nd Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel. The story centers on a man whose wife and daughter are in a terrible accident; the wife dies, but when the daugh ...
'', a 1999
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
film produced by Yasuhiro Mase, written by Hiroshi Saitô.


Plot

The beginning of the film reveals the strained relationship between Hannah (
Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films '' Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s ...
) and her teenaged daughter Samantha (
Olivia Thirlby Olivia Jo Thirlby (born October 6, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Leah in the comedy-drama film ''Juno'' (2007),Louie, Rebecca (June 28, 2008).Olivia Thirlby is smoking in 'The Wackness'". '' Daily News, location ...
). Hannah has been the primary disciplinarian as opposed to Samantha's permissive father Ben (
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
). During a heated argument between Hannah and Samantha, Hannah's focus is momentarily diverted from the road which results in a head-on collision with an oncoming semi-truck. Both end up in the local ICU. Both of them code, resulting in Hannah's death. Unknown to Ben, Hannah's spirit migrates to Samantha's body. However, he finally believes his wife when she tells him things that only his wife would know. Both resolve that Hannah continue to live as Samantha to keep her life intact for if and when she returns. Hannah, living in Samantha's body, endeavors to keep up an emotional relationship with the husband/father, while struggling with the often confusing impulses that teenagers often feel. Ben (David Duchovny) and Hannah often come perilously close to being intimate as man and wife. Her experience helps her to learn a lot about the previously unknown (to her) life her daughter was living and helps her to see how harrowing a teen's life can be in these times, as she struggles to walk the tightrope many teens must negotiate. She's confronted by conflicting pulls between the alluring attractions adolescents face every day and the demands of schoolwork that she finds largely unfamiliar to her since a couple of decades have passed since her own graduation. As she discovers, Samantha's life has been a challenge to meet her parents' expectations for academic excellence and behavior, all the while being overwhelmed by the hormones of adolescence, in many ways more powerful than any of the drugs the kids experiment with. This includes the discovery that Samantha was having sex with multiple partners. It is at times difficult for her to keep that grip; but, for Ben, the possessiveness he feels toward his wife's soul in his daughter's body threatens to completely overwhelm his life as well as hers, with nearly disastrous results. She also began to rediscover her own lost dreams when she gains critical acclaim from the high school faculty for her extraordinary photography. This conflict one day finally comes to head when Hannah/Samantha escape through Samantha's bedroom window and goes to Samantha's friends where they persuade her to try K (
Ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ne ...
) which causes her to hallucinate, seeing herself dead as Hannah. Ben, who'd been looking for her, tracks her down to Samantha's friends. Taking her home, Samantha briefly reappears then disappears again over the traumatic realization that her mother was dead. Ben and Hannah both realize that Samantha is coming back. Hannah makes final preparations for Samantha's return, including making a video for Samantha to view explaining to her what happened. It dramatically impacts Samantha, who belatedly realizes how much she really did love her mother. The final scene shows a radically changed Samantha, who now has adopted her mother's handwriting. She is also now in a fully committed relationship with just a single partner.


Cast


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret, The 2007 direct-to-video films 2000s supernatural thriller films Films based on works by Keigo Higashino Films directed by Vincent Pérez Remakes of Japanese films 2007 thriller drama films 2007 films Body swapping in films Films produced by Luc Besson Films scored by Nathaniel Méchaly English-language French films 2007 drama films 2000s English-language films