The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Secret Beyond the Door
Mystery · Thriller · Drama · 1947
After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.
Movie details
Secret Beyond the Door
“Some Men Destroy What They Love Most!”
1947 Mystery · Thriller · Drama 1h 39m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.6 / 10
5.9K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
65 %
Tomatometer
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Secret Beyond the Door?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Earthquake Bird
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In a Lonely Place
Thriller · 1950
A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.
In Secret
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In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.
Fatal Attraction
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A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Unfaithful
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A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.
Trust
Thriller · 2021
Set in the glamour of the New York and Paris art scenes, gallery owner Brooke Gatwick and her newscaster husband Owen Shore, face temptation, jealousy, twists and mystery when two seductive newcomers enter their lives.
Two Lovers
Drama · 2008
A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.
Greta
Mystery · 2019
A young woman returns a lonely widow’s lost purse, leading to an unlikely relationship between the two — until the young woman discovers the widow might not be all that she seems.
Dead Again
Mystery · 1991
In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.
Dream Lover
Drama · 1993
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Fritz Lang
Written by
Silvia Richards · Rufus King
Joan Bennett
Celia Lamphere
Michael Redgrave
Mark Lamphere
Anne Revere
Caroline Lamphere
Barbara O'Neil
Miss Robey
Natalie Schafer
Edith Potter
Paul Cavanagh
Rick Barrett
Anabel Shaw
Intellectual Sub-Deb
Court is in session
Put Secret Beyond the Door on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.