★★☆☆☆Longing, passion and an illicit love affair should be ripe material for any romping period drama. Sadly, actor-turned-director Charlie Stratton's adaptation of Neal Bell's play, In Secret (2013) - which is in turn based upon Émile Zola's 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin - is a tonally perplexing disappointment that fails to truly wrestle with the themes provided. Production designer Uli Hanisch's sets plunge us into a rather dank 19th century France - with an overly robust enthusiasm for greys - and it's in this world that we meet Thérèse (Elizabeth Olsen, also seen in Godzilla this week). Born out of wedlock, Thérèse is shipped off to live with her seemingly kind, but more accurately conniving aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lang).
- 9/23/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The umpteenth screen version of Thérèse Raquin is lifted by occasional humour and Lange's impressive performance
This latest adaptation (via Neal Bell's stage play) of Émile Zola's 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin is notable largely for the anguished, nuanced performance of Jessica Lange as tortured and torturing mother Madame Raquin, an impressively physical account of seething rage and maddening horror. Elizabeth Olsen is the initially repressed eponymous anti-heroine whose passions are awakened by Oscar Isaac's brooding rake, with deadly results. The story (first filmed in 1915 and reinterpreted endlessly since) is well rehearsed: illicit desires provoke a mortal sin in the shadow of which fleshy pleasures wither. Charlie Stratton, who directed Bell's play on stage in La, paints 19th-century Paris as a torpid dung-hole in which the suffocating air of death (Matt Lucas's bewigged Olivier literally stinks of the morgue) is alleviated only by the spark of lust a...
This latest adaptation (via Neal Bell's stage play) of Émile Zola's 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin is notable largely for the anguished, nuanced performance of Jessica Lange as tortured and torturing mother Madame Raquin, an impressively physical account of seething rage and maddening horror. Elizabeth Olsen is the initially repressed eponymous anti-heroine whose passions are awakened by Oscar Isaac's brooding rake, with deadly results. The story (first filmed in 1915 and reinterpreted endlessly since) is well rehearsed: illicit desires provoke a mortal sin in the shadow of which fleshy pleasures wither. Charlie Stratton, who directed Bell's play on stage in La, paints 19th-century Paris as a torpid dung-hole in which the suffocating air of death (Matt Lucas's bewigged Olivier literally stinks of the morgue) is alleviated only by the spark of lust a...
- 5/17/2014
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Digital, VOD & DVD Release Date: May 20, 2014
Price: DVD $26.98
Studio: Lionsgate
Indie film darling Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) stars in the thriller movie In Secret.
Set in 1860 Paris, the movie tells the story of Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen), who was forced into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin (Tom Felton, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1) by her domineering aunt (Jessica Lange, TV’s American Horror Story). But when Therese meets her husband’s alluring friend Laurent (Oscar Isaac), the two start an illicit affair that has tragic consequences.
In Secret is based on the 19th century novel Therese Raquin by Emile Zola and the stage play of the same name by Neal Bell. The film is the first directed by actor Charlie Stratton (Notes From Underground), who also wrote the screenplay.
Rated R, the movie was released in a limited number of theaters and received mixed reviews from critics and moviegoers.
Price: DVD $26.98
Studio: Lionsgate
Indie film darling Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) stars in the thriller movie In Secret.
Set in 1860 Paris, the movie tells the story of Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen), who was forced into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin (Tom Felton, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1) by her domineering aunt (Jessica Lange, TV’s American Horror Story). But when Therese meets her husband’s alluring friend Laurent (Oscar Isaac), the two start an illicit affair that has tragic consequences.
In Secret is based on the 19th century novel Therese Raquin by Emile Zola and the stage play of the same name by Neal Bell. The film is the first directed by actor Charlie Stratton (Notes From Underground), who also wrote the screenplay.
Rated R, the movie was released in a limited number of theaters and received mixed reviews from critics and moviegoers.
- 3/20/2014
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
Chicago – If stories of Prince Charmings and the liberation from wicked stepmothers are fairy tales, than “In Secret” is the stuff of nightmares, where marriage is not just a prison sentence, but an unlucky life is as well. Based on the novel “Therese Raquin” by Emile Zola as published in 1867, this film’s element of ownership may be considered an artifact in 2014. But thankfully this adaptation earns its own pertinence, as a dark period thriller with real doses of hormonally fueled bad decisions.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Zola’s title character is played in this latest film adaptation by Elizabeth Olsen, who will soon assume mega-star status considering her upcoming appearances in “Godzilla” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”. Therese is a woman whose life is doomed from the day she is abandoned as a young girl by her father to live with her aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange), and the woman’s...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Zola’s title character is played in this latest film adaptation by Elizabeth Olsen, who will soon assume mega-star status considering her upcoming appearances in “Godzilla” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”. Therese is a woman whose life is doomed from the day she is abandoned as a young girl by her father to live with her aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange), and the woman’s...
- 2/24/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Watch the trailer for Roadside Attractions' "In Secret" thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, Jessica Lange, Mackenzie Crook, Shirley Henderson, John Kavanaugh, Lily Laight and Matt Lucas. Charlie Stratton directs and also wrote the script based on Émile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin and the play by Neal Bell. "In Secret" is a tale of obsessive love, adultery and revenge set in the lower depths of 1860s Paris. Therese (Elizabeth Olsen of "Martha Marcy May Marlene"), a sexually repressed beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille (Tom Felton of the “Harry Potter” franchise), by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin (two-time Academy Award winner Jessica Lange). Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop...
- 12/20/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
When this tale of obsessive love, passion, murder and suspicion was first announced, it was going under Therese Raquin, the name of the novel – and later play – from which it was adapted. But as the trailer arrives showcasing the work of Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton and Jessica Lange, the title is now In Secret. Check out the first promo over at Apple’s site.With Charlie Stratton adapting and directing this version of Emile Zola’s book (and Neal Bell’s theatrical work), In Secret finds Olsen as Therese, a sexually repressed and beautiful young woman who is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille (Tom Felton) by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange).Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband's alluring childhood friend,...
- 12/3/2013
- EmpireOnline
There isn't much secrecy in this trailer for In Secret, which features rising stars Oscar Isaac, Elizabeth Olsen, and Tom Felton in the dramatic crime thriller based on the play by Neal Bell. I guess that's how a lot of play's are, in that the performances are more important than the story beats. Certainly with the aformentioned cast that could be the selling point, especially with veteran thespian Jessica Lange added into the mix. Felton, for his part, is near unrecognizeable from his Harry...
- 12/3/2013
- by Paul Shirey
- JoBlo.com
Following a 2009 Drama Desk nomination for Jan Maxwell in last season's Scenes From An Execution by Howard Barker, Ptp/NYC, formerly known as The Potomac Theatre Project, in association with Middlebury College, proudly presents its 23rd repertory season, its 3rd consecutive in NY. This season's menu includes the U.S. Premiere of The Europeans, written by Howard Barker and directed by Ptp's Co-Artistic Director Richard Romagnoli (Barker's "American ally"), and Therese Raquin, written by Neal Bell and directed by Ptp's Co-Artistic Director Jim Petosa.
- 7/10/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Peter Elson's Global Cinema Group has picked up representation at the upcoming Cannes film market of Merchant Ivory's romantic drama The White Countess, starring Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson, as well as Therese Raquin, an adaptation by Charlie Stratton of Neal Bell's stage version of Emile Zola's 19th century novel. Stratton is directing Therese Raquin, which is set to star Joseph Fiennes and Franka Potente. It's in preproduction under the banner of LumarFilm and Liddell Berlanti Prods., due to start shooting in the summer in the Czech Republic.
- 4/30/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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