pigletgirlkp When Miranda meets the tall and handsome Brendan through a friend and brings him home she doesn't expect the romance to lead to deception and murder. After a night of carnal bliss the seeming sweet Brendan becomes obsessed with Miranda and integrates himself into her life by seeking out and beginning a relationship with her sister Kerry. Miranda knows that Brendan is being vindictive and wants to protect her family and friends even if they don't believe her. She soon becomes equally obsessed with proving his guilt after people mysteriously die. Could Miranda be sealing her own fate or Brendans when she goes snooping into his life and finds a disturbing past? Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead) gives a fantastic performance along side David Tennant's (Doctor Who) brilliant and convincingly psychotic one.

Sonofamoviegeek Oh, Yawn. Not another chick flick where the men are all pigs and the women will get even for the abuse they suffered. The only difference is that, in this film, everybody's a pig or has mush for brains. I hated this film for the moral issue of why it's right to send a man to prison for life for a murder he didn't commit. Is that a more immoral act than his abuse and deviousness. This movie shows all the situational ethics of bad writing. I saw it on the CBC's "Best of Britain" series. If this is Britain's best, no wonder the British film industry is in trouble.The only bright spot in this film was David Tennant, He plays his character as so despicable that I'm likely to spit on the next person who speaks with a Scottish accent. Kate Ashfield tries to play the victim but comes off in the end as immorally devious as David Tennant's character. They deserve each other.In the mush for brains category are the parents who see nothing wrong with the obviously psychotic Brendan. English policemen are made out to be so incompetent that they're unfit to give out traffic tickets. The British Policeman's Union should sue the makers of this film for defamation.This film isn't worth the electricity it takes to run your DVD to watch it.

ikanboy Miranda meets Brendan, a charming bloke, beds him in an instant, and then is amazed to find out he's a cad! Excuse me dear, in this day and age that's self destructive. He gets royally ticked off when she dumps him and gets his own back by dating her sister and ingratiating himself with her clueless family.There is her brother, mentally ill, and a certain foil for Brendan's evil influence. He mugs Miranda's next love, apparently at Brendan's urging, who then departs the scene when he thinks Miranda is too obsessed with Brendan's manipulations. Miranda discovers Brendan's past is full of "crazy" behavior and dumps it all out at a family gathering, but no-one believes her, the silly saps all go against her "evidence". Why? Because Brendan has a bombshell of his own to drop. Miranda slept with her sister's former boyfriend back in God knows when! How does he know: he read it in her diary.Does anyone, including Miranda, point out that her "evidence" come from a source that can be contacted and verified whereas his "evidence" comes from underhandedness. No! Mom and Dad go with Brendan's obvious "cattiness", because that drives on the drama! Then her brother kills himself, and we are left to believe Brendan had something to do with it, but he's so cloyingly self effacing at the funeral that everyone - except Miranda - falls for it.When Brendan dumps the sister and marries Miranda's best friend, are the parents chagrined by their disloyalty? There is no sign of it. The sister even blames Miranda for it! What did Miranda do to deserve such a clueless and uncharitable lot? Then Brendan's new bride shows up dead in her bath tub. The police, evidently without any access to CSI technology, declare it as an accident! Another plot device to drive on the drama: make the cops look like idiots! It goes on and on, with poor old stupid Miranda being out foxed at every turn by this evil SOB! She's so stupid that when he manages to convince a Judge (who also does not seem to have access to evidentiary procedures) that she is a menace, and has a restraining order placed against her, she goes running off to his home when his latest bride calls her! Hey, it's effective to most of the female audience! By now they're so wrapped up with him getting his come uppance, that they don't care if the usual detective work goes missing! In the end she gets her revenge and poor old Brendan is hauled off to Jail for something he is innocent of, namely her murder. She lets her family believe she's been murdered, until Brendan is safely ensconced in Jail and then shows up to meet them at the airport in Australia! The dim witted couple are so pleased to see her, and evidently so pleased that Brendan is in Jail on trumped up charges, that they all live happily ever after! The plot is exasperating yet enthrallingly bad, It's enthralling if you accept that everyone has to ignore the obvious, and that is: The authorities are all stupid and incompetent! The main protagonist has a past, as our heroine uncovers. Do the police check it out: NO! Does the Judge check it out? NO! Do her parents check it out: NO! Does her sister: NO! It's all a typical BBC production, predicated on the audience being interested enough in the unfolding drama, that they accept that this guy is going to continue to fool everybody, so that our heroine has to take justice into her own hands. Roll over Agatha!

Zuzus_petal I had the misfortune of missing the first part of this mini-drama. How foolish do I feel now? Incredibly. From what I have seen though, wow! Brief summary: woman dates man, woman dumps man, spurned lover tries to get his own back any way he can. I had previously seen David Tennant in Casanova and found him to have an irresistible charm.Tennant's television history as I know it was based in comedy and so I was intrigued to see him starring in a thriller.However, he did not fail to impress me in Secret Smile. His portrayal of a spurned lover hell bent on revenge was both captivating and chilling. One can see how charming he is but one constantly has to remind oneself about what he really is. The supporting cast are amazing. I did not think Claire Goose would be able to make the transition from soap acting in Casualty to such a serious drama. However, I was pleasantly surprised and her role showed how easily people can be controlled and manipulated. Furthermore, I admit I was not enamoured with Kate Ashfield until now. You were with her every step of the way, feeling her anger and frustration. It is not very often that such a suspenseful drama that actually holds you to your seat comes along. Television nowadays has become highly predictable but I am pleased to say that this was not. It was a superbly acted and directed piece. Best performance must go to Tennant. He was able to capture and exemplify how easy it is to dominate one person and how deep an impact that it can have.This is highly prevalent in a society where stalking and domestic violence remains taboo. I was afraid that Tennant would lose his edge with going to mainstream television, but if this is anything to go by, I had nothing to worry about.