This import from Argentina is an unlikely but successful hybrid: a police procedural that also works as a brooding, unrequited romance. Ricardo Darin stars as Benjamin, a retired criminal investigator who is writing a novel about an unsolved rape-and-murder case that has long haunted him. His research brings him back in touch with a former colleague (Soledad Villamil) who shares his misgivings – as well as unspoken romantic feelings that have lingered for 25 years. The Secret in Their Eyes is at times a jarring juxtaposition of love and hate – director Juan Jose Campanella doesn’t spare us from the awfulness of the crime – but they eventually coalesce into an elegant consideration of regret. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
