You may be puzzling over a remake of the 2009 Argentine film (which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film) Secrets in their Eyes. Now with the first trailer, you can feel united with the film’s characters, who are also going through a serious bout of befuddlement: of course, as in the original, their form of confusion is over the details of a specific murder, while yours may be more generally over the prolonged death of originality in American cinema. BUT, just because this film might partake in the current, tiresome remaking frenzy doesn’t mean that it doesn’t look completely compelling, nor does it negate the feat of grouping together the talents of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Dean Norris (Hank from Breaking Bad).
The film is adapted and directed by Billy Ray (who wrote The Hunger Games and Captain Phillips screenplays and directed Shattered Glass), and it’ll be interesting to see whether it’ll hold up when it’s voided of its Argentine political context (and perhaps given a new American one) — as the first film was tied to Argentina’s Dirty War.
Here’s the official synopsis of the remake:
A tight-knit team of rising FBI investigators – Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts), along with their District Attorney supervisor Claire (Nicole Kidman) – is suddenly torn apart when they discover that Jess’s teenage daughter has been brutally and inexplicably murdered. Now, thirteen years later, after obsessively searching every day for the elusive killer, Ray finally uncovers a new lead that he’s certain can permanently resolve the case, nail the vicious murderer, and bring long-desired closure to his team. No one is prepared, however, for the shocking, unspeakable secret that will reveal the enduring, destructive effects of personal vengeance on the human soul. Interweaving past and present, this deeply layered mystery explores the murky boundaries between justice and revenge, and asks the question: how far would you go to right an unfathomable wrong?
The film will be released on October 23. Watch the trailer (via Yahoo!):