“The Secret in Their Eyes” is a slow-burning Argentine crime drama about a rape and murder that refuses to resolve cleanly. Ricardo Darín plays Benjamín Espósito, a retired investigator who returns to the case decades later to write a novel about it. He recruits his former colleague, judge Irene Menéndez Hastings, played by Soledad Villamil, to help him make sense of a mystery that was never solved.
Trailer, via RialtoDistribution.
A Case That Will Not Close
The film follows Espósito’s investigation in 1974, then jumps forward to 1975 and beyond as he tries to reopen the case. He finds a lead while looking at old photos of the victim, Liliana Coloto, which show a man named Isidoro Gómez staring obsessively at her. A break-in in Chivilcoy yields nothing. A careless phone call from the victim’s husband, Ricardo Morales, lets Gómez slip away.
The Nonlinear Story
The film uses a nonlinear narrative to weave together the present-day novel-writing frame with the 1974 investigation. It also includes a continuous five-minute shot tracking through a stadium during a football match between Racing and Huracán. The shot is a technical feat, but it serves the story by showing how the case connects to a wider world of politics and football.
A Cast Worth Watching
Darín and Villamil carry the film. Their chemistry as colleagues and rivals gives the mystery a human weight that pure thriller mechanics could not manage. Guillermo Francella appears as Espósito’s alcoholic partner, Pablo Sandoval, whose drunken discovery of a connection between the case and Racing football leads the investigators to the stadium.
What Critics Got Right
The film draws praise for its screenplay, the thematic weight of a case set against the 1970s Argentine climate, and the performances of the cast. The 8 of 10 Metacritic aggregate reflects that critical reception.
Where the Film Stumbles
The pacing is deliberate, almost too much so. Some scenes drag, and the nonlinearity can feel more formal than functional. The film’s own tagline, “An unsolved crime. A love story. An unwritten ending,” is accurate, but the story spends more time on the crime and less on the love.
A Strong Finish
The film builds to a resolution that respects the case’s unsolved nature. It is a rare thriller that ends without a neat closure, and that choice is part of what makes it work.
Final Verdict
“The Secret in Their Eyes” is a patient, well-acted drama that rewards attention but occasionally loses it. The story holds together across its timelines, and the final image respects the case’s open ending.
- The screenplay, which weaves past and present timelines
- The performances of Darín and Villamil
- The continuous five-minute stadium shot
- The thematic weight of the 1970s Argentine setting
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