Award-winning Argentine film adapted in ‘Secret In Their Eyes’

CEBU, Philippines – Julia Roberts stars in her latest and another Oscar-worthy role in the crime thriller “Secret In Their Eyes” based on the 2010 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film directed by Juan Jose Campanella “El Secreto de Sus Ojos.”

“Secret In Their Eyes,” directed by blockbuster filmmaker and Academy Award nominee Billy Ray, brings Roberts in a surprising mystery that explores the personal themes of loss, betrayal, and a parent’s undying will to right a profound wrong.

DA investigator Jess Cobb (Roberts), FBI investigator Ray Kasten (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and Deputy District Attorney Claire Sloan (Nicole Kidman) are rising stars, having been selected to serve on an anti-terrorism joint task force in post 9/11 Los Angeles. Jess and Ray are tight-knit partners who share a deep respect and an easy friendship both on the job and off. Ray and Claire come from opposite walks of life, but have a complicated attraction that is a constant undercurrent in their day-to-day encounters.

After Ray and Jess are called to investigate a murder scene, they discover the unthinkable — the victim is Jess’s daughter, Caroline. Ray and Jess join forces with Claire to bring the killer to justice. Their mission, however, meets a cold reality when they discover their suspect is a protected federal witness, and is set free.

Thirteen years later, despite their attempts to find an even keel to their lives, Ray, Claire and Jess still bear wounds that won’t heal. But when Ray uncovers a new lead, he returns to L.A. to convince Claire to revisit the case. Despite the risk all face by reopening emotional issues — Jess’ life has been in stasis for more than a decade; Ray’s affection for Claire has never waned — they join forces to pursue the killer: this time vowing to take matters into their own hands to avenge Caroline’s brutal murder. None, however, is prepared for the shocking secret that lurks behind the manhunt and illuminates the emotional cost of vengeance and justice.

When the film’s director and producer saw the Argentine thriller “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” neither of them could stop talking about it.

“It was spectacular,” says Ray. “I was completely floored by it, had a reverence for it that bordered on awe. At first I was hesitant to adapt it because you don’t want to take on anything that is so great that you feel dwarfed by it before you even start. But I did feel there was an American version of the story worth retelling and exploring.”

“Here was a man who wanted to solve a cold case but the reason why he wanted to solve it was not only to find the culprit but to find the root of his own loneliness,” Campanella says.

Ray says an impetus for the American version lay in the events of 9/11. “The horror of that event was so big and so indelible for anybody who was in America at that time. But it created a story opportunity for our movie that no other context could have.”

“Secret In Their Eyes” opens Wednesday in theaters nationwide.