The Secret in Their Eyes

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) is a 2009 Argentine film. Benjamin Esposito, a federal justice agent, becomes entranced by a rape-murder case in Buenos Aires, and tries to solve it even after case is closed, with help from his alcoholic coworker Sandoval, his new boss Irene, and Ricardo, the victim's husband.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, beating out The White Ribbon from Germany, A Prophet from France, Ajami from Israel and The Milk of Sorrow from Peru.

Tropes used in The Secret in Their Eyes include:
  • Beauty Equals Goodness: Averted in Liliana's case: see Your Cheating Heart.
  • Biggus Dickus: The rapist proves to have one.
  • Blood Knight: He may not look the part, but Pablo makes it clear that bar brawls are a passion of his.
  • Brick Joke: The typewriter.
  • Cowboy Cop: Esposito is a deconstruction: his insubordination to the dictatorship forces him to flee the city as a marked man, leaving the love of his life behind.
  • The Determinator: Esposito is not likely to let the case go. Nor is Ricardo, naturally.
  • Fan Disservice: There are two instances of nudity in the film. One is of a woman being raped, and is later seen dead, bloodied and bruised. The second is the rapist showing off his penis, finally confessing.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Invoked by Morales. Morales manages to kidnap and lock Gomez up himself for twenty-five years, not even speaking to him and evidently making him Go Mad From the Isolation.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Pablo, according Benjamin's speculation.
  • I Am Spartacus
  • Jerkass: The kindest coherent way of describing Gomez and Romano.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Benjamin and Pablo.
  • Karma Houdini: Romano.
  • Mood Whiplash: Benjamin is engaging in some amusing banter before walking into the murder scene, with no transitionary shot.
  • Psycho for Hire: Gomez.
  • Rape as Drama: Starts off the film, and haunts the victim's husband for years.
  • Smug Snake: Romano.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Gomez.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Benjamin and Irene.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: Irene.
  • The Oner: A truly impressive one that starts high in the air, shot from a helicopter approaching a soccer stadium where a game is being played, pans over the players and zooms in on the crowd where Esposito and Sandoval are trying to find the suspect which they do right as a goal is converted and the crowd goes mad, causing them to lose him which in turns gives place to a chase scene through the inside of the stadium, up and down several levels of passages and staircases, inside a bathroom and back out, and eventually back out onto the playing field, where the suspect is finally captured. The whole scene lasts over five minutes.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Gomez in regards to Pablo in the stadium scene.
  • Undying Loyalty: Ricardo to his late wife - poignantly enough to motivate Benjamin to take un this seemingly impossible case. Made sadder by her lack of loyalty to him.
  • Vigilante Man: Ricardo tries to do this by calling a suspect's mother, which ends up causing the suspect to flee. Later, once the killer is caught and subsequently released, he tries a much more direct approach, successfully.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Benjamin and Pablo.
  • Your Cheating Heart: Benjamin is avowedly so. And then there was Liliana.
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