Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music and Entertainment
Secrets & Lies in the Age of Truth Social

Secrets & Lies in the Age of Truth Social

Last updated on: April 25, 2026 at 3:17 pm by Chase Padusniak

0 Comments

Secrets & Lies in the Age of Truth Social 2026-04-25T15:17:45-04:00 Chase Padusniak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mike Leigh
Source: Flickr, Photo Credit Chris Payne
License

What makes Mike Leigh’s movies so beautiful and difficult is the way they resist easy description. If I were to tell you that his Secrets & Lies (1996) is about a young Black optometrist whose adoptive mother dies only for her to seek out her biological mother, who is a bitter, white factory worker with a lay-about daughter who sweeps streets for a living, you might look at me askance. Me proceeding, you might also wonder how a photographer uncle, a dusty canteen, and a scarred women bluntly communicating that she needs her wound to look “bad” for the insurance money fit in. The film is over two hours long, you see. And it’s lovely.

Mike Leigh’s plots often sound convoluted. With a few exceptions, his realistic visual style, quiet emotions, plain, working-class backdrops, and resistance to anything we’d typically call entertaining don’t exactly scream out for the viewer’s attention or interest. And so, we default to describing his process, trying to justify the hypnotic quality of his work. We appeal to his script-writing practice, which involves working out basics with actors and letting them develop their characters and emotions before crafting a screenplay. If his films don’t sound interesting, his process does.

But I think we oughtn’t sell him so short. Leigh’s films deal in maxims, truisms, if you like. Secrets & Lies, for example, tests one of our oldest: the truth will set you free. Leigh’s genius inheres in his ability to take this mundane advice—the material of a medieval sermon—and show its vitality for the modern world and its broken pilgrims.

The fact is that this racially confusing adoption is little more than a MacGuffin. Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), the adoptee, is doing well as an eye doctor. Whether she fails or succeeds in finding her mother has little to do with the emotional tumult that occupies the latter half of the film. Really, Leigh is interested in how secrets corrode familial relationships. One sibling has money; one doesn’t. One can’t become a mother, another can’t seem to stop being one, even if she isn’t doing a great job. Even his interstitial scenes exist to return to this truth.

When Maurice (Timothy Spall), for example, receives the former owner at his photography shop, it becomes clear that the man feels regret. He’s lied to himself about his abilities—both in photography and in life. Deceit may work; we may “get away with it.” But the spiritual and psychological effects of keeping up with lies always overcome us.

That last sentence feels odd to write at the moment. The Roy Cohn-patented technique of never apologizing and lying until the danger is through has proven quite successful in recent years. As I write, President Trump keeps truthing away, saying one minute that peace is at hand only to threaten nuclear holocaust the next. No one seems to know where our ships are, exactly what’s been hit, or exactly how many people have died. On the one hand, secrets and lies seem to have won. On the other, most (if not all) of us would prefer to believe Leigh’s version of events—that the weight of regret and deception cannot be adequately born, that the truth must out.

Catholic

Religious Art

Previous Post

April 9, 2026

The Drama: Finally, a Big Swing

Next Post

May 2, 2026 The 4:30 Movie: Kevin Smith and the Gen X Cinephile

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Do The Right Thing was a terrible movie, with a terrible message, a man owns ..."

Frank Holzhauser

Do the Right Thing: What Can ..."

"NOT the experience of those who actually lived through those years. Let's not forget that.Too ..."

captcrisis

54: Let the Good Times Roll

"Your accurate assessment of where the Blockbuster and the studios have ended up reminded me ..."

Dave G.

Jaws: Ad Fontes

"Another Dementia experience: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkbxNibXiLx_ak8IuhZiutd2Fxe7_KAon&si=VhOYNUIBV3CTlyDf"

Ame

Dementia: Silent Nightmare

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The righteous person will live by what quality or characteristic?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Works Faith Holiness Obedience