Francois (Valentin Vigourt) is seven years old in 1955. He feels disconnected from his athletic father and mother: Maxime (Patrick Bruel) is an accomplished gymnast, and Tania (Cecile de France) is a champion swimmer. The boy has created an imaginary brother who is physically gifted in every way and unafraid of new challenges. Francois knows that his father is disappointed in him, even though he has excelled in school. Unable to talk with his parents about his own inferiority feelings, he confines in Louise (Julie Depardieu), a massage therapist who has a place across from his family's clothing shop. Years later, when he finds a toy in the attic of his house, 14-year-old Francois (Quentin Dubuis) convinces Louise to tell him a secret that has shaped his destiny.
Before World War II, Maxime married Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier) and they had a son named Simon (Orlando Nicoletti), who thrilled his father with his athletic prowess. When the Nazis invade Paris, Maxime is willing to downplay his Jewish identity much to the disappointment of Hannah's strict parents. He also has fallen in love with Tania, whom he saw at his own wedding. When Hannah discovers her husband's obsession with the beautiful fashion model and swimming star, she takes drastic action.
A Secret is directed by Claude Miller based on Philippe Grimbert's biographical novel. The drama reaches out to all who have experienced a lack of confidence as children, to those who have been able to form a touching friendship across the generations with a caring older person, to those who have experienced great heartbreak, and to those who have fallen in love with someone so beautiful that there seems to be no other choice to even consider. This poignant French film touches our primal emotions and shows once again the mysterious power that secrets can have upon our lives and how we see the world.
