This is one of those films that stays with you after the lights go up. It’s one of those films that makes think about your life, regrets, relationships and dreams you had to let go. This film makes you want to start over.

Frankly, I live to watch movies like that.

Based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos, The Secret in Their Eyes is a psychological thriller, at least on the surface. The main character, a retired sheriff Esposito decides to write a book based on a cold case that haunts him even now and also, as we find out, had a huge personal impact on his life. The case is retold in a series of flashbacks. A young woman is raped and murdered in her home, and Esposito and his sidekick, the humourous morose Sandoval, suspect an acquaintance of the woman. However, they don’t get a lot of support from the police or their own boss and the case ends up getting closed several times. Meanwhile in the current timeline, Esposito meets up with Irene, someone who had worked on the cold case with him, to read his draft of the book, and the two reminisce on old times and on an attraction that clearly still exist between the two of them.

This movie is more than a crime story. At its core it’s about how wounds fester in the soul. In Esposito’s case, for whatever reason he keeps quiet about this love for Irene and lives “a life of nothing” pining away for her. All the other characters have also lived some version of an empty life. It’s a real thing of beauty to see how the screenwriters and director weaves the different story threads into this main theme to deliver a big emotional ending. Before you think this film is all down and depressing, there are funny and uplifting bits placed in the right places in the film to create a good balance. I wish I could have written this masterpiece.

I can’t recommend this movie enough. It is an engrossing, beautiful film both inside and out, lovingly crafted, unformulaic, and wholely original.

Rating: It’s going on my list of best movies I’ve watched in my life.