The Secret Scripture (2016)
Storyline
The hidden memoir of an elderly woman confined to a mental hospital reveals the history of her passionate yet tortured life, and of the religious and political upheavals in Ireland during the 1920s and 30s.
Directors
Cast
Eric Bana, Theo James, Vanessa Redgrave, Rooney Mara, Susan Lynch, John Connors, Jack Reynor, Aidan Turner, Nika McGuigan, Lesa Thurman, Tony Doyle, Elva Trill, Antony Acheampong, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Charlie Kelly, Omar Sharif Jr., Pauline McLynn, Brian Fortune, Laurence O'Fuarain, Enda Oates, Sheila Moylette, Shimmy Marcus, Ian Meehan, Ryan McAllister, Geraldine McAlinden, Michelle Ward
Trailer
Reviews
70
Rooney Mara and Theo James deliver their most richly nuanced screen work to date in the drama, a memory piece whose true subject is Ireland’s tangled, bloody history and the Church’s toxic paternalism toward women.
70
It is an elegantly crafted, expertly acted old-fashioned weepie that manages to sell a whopper of a plot that would bring a blush to the cheeks of Nicholas Sparks.
42
The Secret Scripture is a film with a lot to say, which struggles with the best way to say it.
40
Sheridan’s take on the material is solidly made but sorely lacking in subtlety.
40
A classic case of a literary adaptation capturing the high-gloss trappings of its source without getting a handle on its story or themes, The Secret Scripture is like a nicely decorated Craftsman home built on a foundation of Jell-O, with a toilet where the kitchen sink should be. It looks nice on first glance, but spend any time there, and things start to get messy.
