Secrets & Lies
Comedy, Drama
20th Century Fox  (1996) 142 mins R

7.8 (12,307 votes)
Mike Leigh's widely acclaimed film, winner of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Picture, is a poignant, heartwarming drama that's as wildly funny as it is moving. After her adoptive parents die, a young black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) seeks out her natural birth mother only to discover her mother is white. Equally shocked to learn the daughter she gave up for adoption is black, Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn - 1996 Golden Globe Winner, Best Actress, drama) insists it's a mistake. But she soon realizes it's true and when she springs her newfound daughter on the rest of the family, the resulting chaos leads to a series of secrets and lies being revealed at last....

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Cast and Crew
Timothy Spall  ......  Maurice Purley
Phyllis Logan  ......  Monica Purley
Brenda Blethyn  ......  Cynthia Rose Purley
Claire Rushbrook  ......  Roxanne Purley
Marianne Jean-Baptiste  ......  Hortense Cumberbatch
Elizabeth Berrington  ......  Jane
Director  .....  Mike Leigh
Producer  .....  Simon Channing Williams; Simon Channing-Williams
Writer  .....  Mike Leigh
Notes
Trivia:
Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Brenda Blethyn never met before the scene in which they meet in the film. (more)

Filming Locations:
Holborn Underground Station, Holborn, London, England, UK (more)

Quotes:
Cynthia Rose Purley: You gotta laugh, ain't ya sweetheart? Else you'd cry. (more)

Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 30 wins & 18 nominations (more)