Secrets & Lies Ending Explained: Plot and Final Scene Facts

Secrets & Lies (1996) — an evergreen reference for this movie: the essentials, the cast, where to watch and what to watch next. Roxanne drives her mother crazy. Maurice never speaks to his niece. Cynthia has a shock for her family. Monica can't talk to her husband. Hortense has never met her mother.

Where to watch

TMDB's U.S. watch-provider data lists HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, HBO Max. Availability changes by country and date, so check your streaming app before watching.

Cast

Brenda Blethyn as Cynthia Rose Purley; Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Hortense Cumberbatch; Timothy Spall as Maurice Purley; Phyllis Logan as Monica Purley; Claire Rushbrook as Roxanne Purley; Lee Ross as Paul; Lesley Manville as The Social Worker; Elizabeth Berrington as Jane

About Secrets & Lies

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

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Figures and availability come from public TMDB data and are provided as a sourced reference.