Review: Amy Berg's 'Every Secret Thing' Is A Mix Between David Fincher & Dennis Lehane

Pitched somewhere between a David Fincher crime procedural, a Denis Lehane suspense novel, and a “Mommie Dearest” melodrama, documentarian Amy Berg’s move into the feature-length world of drama is, by nature of the material, an uneven one. It’s not for lack of trying, however. Making her narrative debut here, Berg directs the hell out of every crime segment in the film, and there’s a strong level of craft in sequences that would make Fincher and “Se7en” DP Darius Khondji proud. Nicole Holofcener’s adaptation of the book doesn’t have any real egregious material, at least not in its dialogue.

But there’s something lost in the translation from the psychological suspense novel by author Laura Lippmann: what likely reads as gripping, disturbing, and haunting on the page is occasionally engaging, but strains suspension of disbelief and credulity throughout on the screen. It also leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Ostensibly a movie about shame, manipulation, and the...