Forbidden Secrets (2005) Kristy Swanson, David Keeley, Christopher Bondy, Charles Edwin Powell, Marianne Farley, Jude Beny Movie Review

Forbidden Secrets (2005)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kristy Swanson in Forbidden Secrets (2005)

Pendant Pending

With her marriage over Alexandra Kent Lambeth (Kristy Swanson - Dude, Where's My Car?) decides to move back in to the brownstone that she grew up in. But it was as a child in that impressive building that her much loved aunt, Judith (Danette Mackay), was murdered and her mentally unstable mother, Evelyn (Jude Beny), was presumed to be guilty of the murder and put in a sanatorium. And those mysteries start to haunt Alexandra, and a long with a secret attached to a pendant she becomes unsettled leading her to not only try and learn the truth surrounding her aunt's death but also solve other mysteries she unearths along the way. But in doing so she finds herself in danger as it seems someone doesn't want her to discover the truth, the question is who?

The secret when it comes to "Forbidden Secrets" lies with Kristy Swanson as she has such a likeable persona it draws you in to this made for TV movie. But Kristy Swanson also has an acting style, an air about her which makes the character of Alexandra real but with a touch of not being real without delivering an over the top performance. And Swanson's performance stands out because those around her are generally more over the top with actors turning on the forced facial expressions and trying to be more melodramatic with their performances.

David Keeley in Forbidden Secrets (2005)

But alongside Kristy Swanson "Forbidden Secrets" has something else and that is a genuine sense of mystery. We have the mystery surrounding the aunt's murder and we also have the mystery surrounding what secret there is behind a pendant whilst we have all of this causing Alexandra to become unstable. Now from just a few central characters it doesn't take a genius to work out who the bad man is and I say man because other than Kristy Swanson and her mother I think there is only Alexandra's girl friend being the only other female character or at least after the aunt's murder, which pushes you one way rather than the other. But despite "Forbidden Secrets" pretty much being text book when it comes to the mystery side of the movie it does a reasonable job of delivering it in an entertaining although sometimes cheesy way.

What this all boils down to is that "Forbidden Secrets" is to be honest a typical early 21st century made for TV murder mystery movie. But thanks to director Richard Roy keeping it ticking over and the casting of the likeable Kristy Swanson it ends up a watchable movie with few real groan moments.


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