Parents' Guide to

Every Secret Thing

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Overly complex kidnapping drama has disturbing scenes.

Movie R 2015 93 minutes
Every Secret Thing Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

Best friends Ronnie (Dakota Fanning) and Alice (Danielle MacDonald) were sent to juvenile detention after perpetrating a tragic kidnapping when they were just 11 years old. Eight years later, they're finally out and trying to reconstruct their lives, but when another young child goes missing, a local detective (Elizabeth Banks) thinks they might know something about the crime.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Moody and complicated, the movie jumps back and forth between two time periods, centering on mostly unlikable characters involved in heinous acts. Two children go missing; one dies, and while we're not certain about the fate of the other, it doesn't look good. Some of these scenes might be unpleasant to watch -- and even more difficult to stomach is Diane Lane as the narcissistic, manipulative mother of one of the 11-year-old girls. No, she's not involved in the crimes, but its easy to see how she raised a child who would be.

EVERY SECRET THING is competently made, and it does a good job of establishing a grim mood. But it ultimately falls flat because it fails to get viewers to root for anyone. Banks' detective is thinly drawn, and some of her best police work seems to stem from lucky hunches. The teenage girls are bitter and broken, and they make every scene they're in dour and disturbing. The movie can take you to dark places, and not because it's so transportive, but because it has few other moods that contour it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Every Secret Thing depicts parents and children. Would you consider any of the parents to be role models? What does it mean to be a "good parent"?

  • How does Helen shape her daughter's personality, both as a young girl and as a teenager? Who's the bigger troublemaker -- Alice or Ronnie? How does your perception of them change over the course of the film?

  • How does the movie depict drinking and self-harm? What are the consequences of each?

Movie Details

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