Some movies just sit in your gut like a lead weight. You know the feeling? You finish the credits, the screen goes black, and you just kind of stare at your own reflection for a minute, wondering why humans are so incredibly messy. That is basically the vibe of the In Secret 2013 movie.
It’s gritty. It’s damp. Honestly, it feels like you can smell the stagnant water of 19th-century Paris through the screen.
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When Charlie Stratton brought this to the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2013, it was originally titled Thérèse, which makes sense because it’s based on Émile Zola’s 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin. But they changed it. "In Secret" sounds more like a thriller, which is half-true, but it’s really more of a slow-motion car crash of morality and repressed desire. If you haven’t seen it, or if you only remember the trailer, you’re looking at a cast that was honestly stacked for an indie production: Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Jessica Lange, and Tom Felton.
It’s a weirdly claustrophobic experience.
The Brutal Plot of In Secret 2013 Movie
Let’s talk about the story because it’s not your typical Jane Austen tea party. Elizabeth Olsen plays Thérèse, a young woman who gets effectively sold into a marriage with her sickly, annoying cousin Camille, played by Tom Felton. Felton is great here because he’s so genuinely irritating that you almost—almost—understand why Thérèse wants to get rid of him.
They live in a dark, dingy shop in Paris, overseen by Camille’s overbearing mother, Madame Raquin. Jessica Lange plays her with this terrifying, suffocating "love." Then Oscar Isaac walks in as Laurent.
He’s an old friend of Camille’s. He’s a painter. He’s everything Camille isn’t: masculine, vibrant, and incredibly bored.
The affair starts almost immediately. It’s not a "sweet" romance. It’s desperate. It’s sweaty. It’s born out of Thérèse having zero agency in her own life. But the In Secret 2013 movie takes a hard turn into darkness when Laurent and Thérèse decide that Camille is the only thing standing between them and happiness.
They kill him.
They’re on a boat trip, Laurent tips him over, and they let him drown. It’s handled with this sickening realism—no dramatic music, just the splashing and the realization that they’ve just crossed a line they can’t uncross. The rest of the movie isn't a "happily ever after" for the lovers; it’s a horror story about guilt.
Why the Critics Were Split
Critics didn't exactly throw a parade for this one. It holds around a 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels a bit harsh, honestly. Most of the complaints were that it felt too "stagy" or "melodramatic."
Maybe.
But Zola’s original work was part of the Naturalism movement. It was supposed to be a clinical study of human "beasts." The movie tries to capture that. It’s not supposed to be "fun." It’s supposed to show how two people can be destroyed by their own impulses.
Elizabeth Olsen gives a performance that is so internalized. You can see her dying behind her eyes in the first half of the film. Oscar Isaac, before he was a massive superstar, showed exactly why he was going to be one. He has this magnetism that makes you realize why Thérèse would risk everything for him, even though he’s clearly a selfish guy.
A Masterclass in Costume and Set Design
If you look at the technical side, the In Secret 2013 movie is gorgeous in a very ugly way. The production designer, Tamás Vayer, and the costume designer, Stefano De Nardis, clearly understood the assignment.
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Everything is muted.
The colors are grays, browns, and sickly yellows. It reflects the trapped nature of the characters. When Thérèse and Laurent are together in secret, the lighting shifts slightly, but it never feels "light." It feels like they are hiding in the shadows of their own making.
Compare this to other 2013 releases like The Great Gatsby. While Gatsby was all glitter and gold, In Secret was the dirt under the fingernails of the 19th century. It’s a stark contrast that makes it stand out even a decade later.
The Jessica Lange Factor
We have to talk about Jessica Lange. She is a powerhouse.
In the second half of the movie, her character, Madame Raquin, suffers a stroke after learning (in her own way) what happened to her son. She becomes paralyzed and loses her ability to speak. She can only communicate with her eyes.
The tension in those scenes is unbearable.
She’s sitting at the dinner table with the two murderers, and they know she knows. It turns the movie from a crime drama into a psychological thriller. Lange does more with a single glance than most actors do with five pages of dialogue. It’s the kind of performance that deserved more awards buzz than it actually got at the time.
Where the Movie Diverges from Zola’s Book
If you’re a literature nerd, you’ll notice some tweaks. Zola’s book is even more cynical if you can believe it. The book focuses heavily on the idea that Thérèse and Laurent have different temperaments—one is "nervous" and the other is "sanguine."
The movie focuses more on the emotional weight of the guilt.
In the book, the ghost of Camille (metaphorically) sits between them in bed. The movie visualizes this psychological haunting really well. They start to loathe each other. The very passion that drove them to murder becomes the thing that makes them want to kill each other.
It’s a cycle.
- Desire leads to desperation.
- Desperation leads to crime.
- Crime leads to guilt.
- Guilt leads to hatred.
It’s a bleak outlook on human nature, but it’s incredibly effective if you’re in the mood for something heavy.
The Legacy of the 2013 Adaptation
Why should you care about a movie from 2013 that didn't break the box office?
Well, it’s a fascinating look at the early careers of major stars. Seeing Olsen and Isaac together before they were Marvel icons is cool, sure. But more than that, it’s a reminder that period pieces don't always have to be about grand balls and finding a husband.
They can be about the gross, dark corners of the human psyche.
The In Secret 2013 movie serves as a bridge between traditional costume dramas and modern psychological thrillers. It doesn't hold your hand. It doesn't give you a hero to root for. Everyone is flawed. Everyone is a little bit terrible.
That’s why it’s worth a rewatch.
In an era where movies are often polished to a mirror shine, there’s something refreshing about a film that is so unashamedly grim. It asks a simple question: Can you ever really be free if your freedom is built on someone else's grave?
The answer the movie gives is a resounding "no."
Actionable Insights for Fans and New Viewers
If you’re planning to dive into this movie, or if you’ve already seen it and want to understand it better, here is how to get the most out of the experience:
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- Watch the performances, not the plot. The story is a classic "doomed lovers" trope, but the nuances in how Elizabeth Olsen shifts from catatonic to manic are where the real value lies.
- Read the book afterward. Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin provides a lot of the "scientific" reasoning behind why the characters behave the way they do. It adds a whole new layer to the film.
- Pay attention to the sound design. The movie uses silence and ambient noise (like the scraping of chairs or the sound of the river) to build an atmosphere of dread that music couldn't achieve.
- Compare it to other Zola adaptations. There have been many versions of this story (including a 1953 version and even a South Korean film called Thirst which adds vampires to the mix). Seeing how different cultures and eras handle the guilt is a great study in storytelling.
The In Secret 2013 movie remains a haunting, if polarizing, piece of cinema. It’s a film that demands your attention and then punishes you for giving it, in the best way possible. If you want a movie that sticks with you long after the screen goes dark, this is the one to put on your list. Just don't expect to feel particularly happy when it’s over. It’s a tragedy in the truest, messiest sense of the word.