In Secret is a period romance with the look and set-up of a Jane Austin movie, the plot of The Postman Always Rings Twice and the appeal of neither. A poor orphan girl (Elizabeth Olsen) is dispatched to living with her wealthy relatives, who eventually force a marriage to her sickly cousin Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies). His hunky friend (Oscar Isaacs from Inside Llewyn Davis) shows up and, before ya know it, he and the young bride are humping like bunnies. And before you can say “Double Indemnity”, it occurs to them that they could be together forever with a lot of money if only the husband met his end. This being the 19th Century, the poor cuckold hasn’t yet seen A Place in the Sun or Leave Her to Heaven, so he gets in the boat…
Unfortunately, In Secret telegraphs every point in the plot, so the audience is never surprised. In Secret fails to deliver the edginess of a noir thriller, but it retains the worst of the Austin period movies – the stilted dialogue and all the boring stuff.
Olsen is a fine actress and she makes the most of the material. Unfortunately, Jessica Lange, as the family matriarch, has some meltdowns that are embarrassing.
One more complaint: the two lovers may well be having a torrid affair, but one of my pet peeves is movie-sex-in-clothes. I understand that women wore more layers of garments in the 19th Century, but – trust me – NOBODY has this much sex without undressing.
In Secret is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Xbox Video.