“Secret in their Eyes” is a suspenseful story that features some fine actors, such as Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The audience will feel sympathy for Julia Roberts’ character, Jess, whose daughter is murdered. Her friend Ray (Ejiofor), a former F.B.I. agent and now private detective, works hard to locate the suspect and make sure he is arrested. But a serious problem lies in the way: the suspect is also a “snitch” for Martin Morales (Alfred Molina), the district attorney in L.A., who is fighting terrorism and doesn’t want his counter-terrorism man messed with, even if he did commit a murder. The only other thing on Ray’s mind, other than finding the murderer of Jess’ daughter, Carolyn, is getting closer to present-day District Attorney Claire Sloan (Kidman). The story flashes back and forth between 2002 and 2015.
Despite an interesting and suspenseful story, it takes a real turn and ends with an unusual twist, which doesn’t really work well. The ending in some ways negates a lot of what took place beforehand in the film. At any rate, the film contains strong language and violence, and we are unable to award it our Dove Seal for family viewing.