The Perfect Secret (2019) Poster

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8/10
One of the best german movies in the last 20 years
larslersmacher16 November 2019
To be honest I mostly don't like the movies of my country. I'm always thinking why they don't make movies on a quality like the french. So I was a little bit upset as my girlfriend wanted to see this one. But this movie is really good. The story and acting is in a really good balance. It goes deep but not too deep. It is dramatic but with the right amount of releasing laughter. And without an to dramatic end. Although we had a fun time after the movie talking about real intimate stories with our friends. I really enjoyed it and I really hope other german movie maker watched and learned about what is possible even in germany.
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6/10
Have a laugh and a drink
thomas-leitha26 November 2019
Don't expect deep truth or drama, this movie is probably the best German sitcom you'll ever encounter and the closest a German script comes to the early Woody Allen. The basic idea (don't show ur mobile to your partner) is not too clever and according to another review has been screened before, but the actors play well, not all of the story's twists are predictable and I enjoyed the movie. Most of the jokes are about sex but you have to lack any sense of humor if you find them offensive or against heteros or homos. Take it for what it is, a light comedy.
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6/10
Positive surprise and highly recommended
Ch-Debus6 November 2019
The movie is a very sound mix of drama and comedy. Thanks to an exceptional cast, a very well thought through script and very good directing / editing, the movie is really enjoyable and comes across as a serious melodrama with funny elements but never as a cheap comedy. The cast delivers a very good and credible performance. Also the script is very good and tells the story without unnecessary length while the funny elements are measured. Overall a highly recommended German movie.
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Perfektes Remake
antoniotierno4 November 2019
Perfekte Geheimnis" ist eine oft komische Komödie. Der Film basiert auf der zuerst in einem italienischen Kinodrama aus dem Jahr 2016 ausprobierten Idee, dass eine Abendessengesellschaft aus dreieinhalb befreundeten Pärchen sämtliche Handys auf den Tisch legt und jeden Anruf, jede Text- oder Bild-Nachricht im Kollektiv entgegennimmt.

Die Smartphones seien die "Flugschreiber unseres Lebens", behauptet die von Jessica Schwarz gespielte Psychotherapeutin Eva zu Beginn des Films. Offenbar unterstellt sie nicht nur ihrem Mann Rocco, den sie neuerdings "penetrant gutgelaunt" findet, dass sich auf seinem Mobilgerät Belege für peinliche Unternehmungen finden könnten. Alle Schauspieler sind wirklich gut und Ihre Leistingen fast perfekt.
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7/10
Mixed bag, but still an 7/10.
brsger2 January 2024
Kinda stupid, SUPER constructed and an underwhelming. But nevertheless, really entertaining.

Lau, Schwarz and Möhring are great, Herfurth is excellent. Haase is solid. M'Barek lacks and Fitz comes short. Not a surprise though.

There's really not much sense in talking about the story. It's adapted, it's constructed all the way through.

The first hour is great, honestly.

But where most movies do wrong, aka drag on for too long in the middle, "Das perfekte Geheimnis" does the opposite. The pace picks up IMMENSELY during the end of the second act, unfortunately. Leading to a very rushed ending and therefore, an unsatisfying conclusion.

Leaves a bad taste in the mouth and would otherwise have definitely earned an 8/10.

The lighting is so very artificial, but a casual viewer won't notice. Some minor technical issues.

Overall, refreshing and quite entertaining.

But having 80% of Germany's A-Class in a single movie will do the trick. Seems like a big friendship project and less like Constantin Film's usual lazy cash grab.

The prejudice, the lobbyism and privilege still shines through underneath all the pseudo-awareness of social issues.

7 rich people doing superficial stuff. Am I talking about the characters or the actual actors? Who knows.

Enough of the critique.

Finally a funny German comedy.

7/10.
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6/10
A weird combo of good acting and plot holes
basta-tragedy13 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I started watching because I knew the cast from their other work, and I find them charismatic and talented. Most of the movie was kind of okay (not as funny as you would expect from a comedy, but okay).

But 2 things left me confused: 1) I didn't understand if the author has something against women and gay people or was this a bad attempt to criticize those who do?

2) Plot holes. There was one quite nicely hidden storyline (hint: earrings scene), which could have been such a nice touch/plot twist if developed, but it was ignored. The other being this unexpected phone call to a secret phone to the host at the very end.
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7/10
In your face. A good German comedy
DLochner21 March 2020
German comedies are rare in Germany. Or rather, good German comedies are rare. What the author Bora Dagtekin shows us here is a wonderfully thought-out film that takes place almost exclusively in one room. Seven friends meet for dinner and put their cell phones on the table. No more secrets. The film is meticulously thought out and exciting until the end. The actors carry the story excellently and are wonderfully cast. Anyone who wants to see a good German film again, this is the right one.
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7/10
Rollercoaster of revelations
denis-237916 January 2020
A remake of an Italian original, excellently written, full of funny and truly unexpected surprises. Very well played by most of the cast. Didn't feel like 144 minutes at all.
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10/10
Smart and unexpectedly brilliant German comedy
gerdtebben24 November 2019
I am not a fan of German comedies at all, having suffered through numerous Til Schweiger movies amongst others. That's why I was totally surprised by "Das perfekte Geheimnis". It is a very dense movie experience, similar to theater. If you have seen "Carnage" you know what I mean. Almost all of the plot takes place in the living room of one couple. The actors are brilliant, the plot is very clever (although taken from the French/Italian origignal title). And the movie has an air of quality that almost all other German comedies so hurtingly lack. As for the criticism of homophoby and misogyny, I was surprised when reading about it. Yes, there are characters using careless language about their gay friend. But those are immediately corrected by other, more sensitive friends. Also, the topic of child care by either men or women is discussed. But I couldn't see any specific trend towards misogyny. The spite is distributed evenly between men and women, and quite funniliy I might add. Overall, I find it hard, if not impossible to burden a comedy with the duty to carry a perfect picture of a perfect society. Go see it!
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1/10
Cliché follows cliché- and unrefined storyline
christiansmovies9 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The Movie has great German acting and good cinematography. But that's about it. It falls short on cleverness and refinement. It is somewhat always over the top. The script would have needed several refinements - and whenever social criticism was expressed, it was quickly resolved and pushed back into standard definitions. Example: it's ok to show that the mother that is seeking career is confronted with the reality that moms have a difficult standing in job life- and women for the matter - but why would she question the whole thing and wants to be a full time parent, while at the same time the father finds himself better in the role as the working father??? Or why is it good to be clericalised as a teacher- the discussion of that it destroys creativity and progress in school is ignored. Leaves the end of the film, which was completely unnecessary. The prove of friendship would have been 1000 times better if the friends would have shown their love for each other by embracing their gay friend and each other's flaws. Why the scenes after the dinner. Disappointing!
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10/10
Excellent comedy with many unexpected turns
kai_bo13 August 2020
German comedy is often a bit shallow and predictable. This one, once you accept the premise of the phones revealing everything in one evening, is delightful in its many turns and surprises. The dialogue is witty and clever. Yes, there is homophobia and other non PC things going on, but they take a turn and "fix" it again on the fly. And yes, it does carry a message: Communicate! Whatever the cost, not communicating is worse. My full recommendation.
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5/10
One more version
bastos24 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen the original Italian, the Spanish, French, Korean and now German versions of the exact same movie. All made within three years of each other! And there's still the Greek, Turkish, Indian, Mexican, Hungarian, Chinese, Russian, Armenian, Polish and Lebanese versions! And I have to come here and read people saying stuff like "One of the best German movies in the last 20 years" or "Smart and unexpectedly brilliant German comedy"! Really?!? I must say I have a bit of a morbid fascination how these things happen. I'm guessing a good idea for a story that is universal and resonates with audiences, and that can be done with a very limited budget has something to do with this phenomenon. This version, at least, has the balls to correct the atrocious ending of the original (which none of the other versions I saw did). That's the best thing I can say about this movie.
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8/10
Witty and working a serious topic - of course over the top.
fekkolus12 March 2022
Its a very nice and simple intimate play with good actors.

Of course, it´s a comedy and the screenplay is way over the top, but overall the experiment, uncovering the average modern liberals hypocritical attitudes and little secretes is more than just silly entertainment.

Rather good watch.
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1/10
Cringworthy! And really really bad!
Freshingeborg31 December 2020
Misogynist. Homophobic. And not funny at all! Waste of time!
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10/10
I enjoyed
mrirpm10 May 2021
I really enjoyed watching this movie. Every minute of the movie is made in a way that is not boring. It also deals with one of the main problems of families. Good writing and good acting and directing.
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2/10
Extremely cheap german comedy
jenhae7 November 2019
Honestly if you enjoy cheap, scripted reality tv humor than this is a movie for you. If you actually love intelligent stories that make you laugh but also deliver an important message - don't bother. Not the only one who thinks like that. Many reviews talk about the homophobic "jokes" and the terrible handling of serious topics - because you can talk about/show "heavy" problems and still make them funny. Sadly no one tried it with this movie. The italian and french versions are not perfectly innocent either but the german version simply lacks thought and ambition to actually be more than just a cheap laugh for people who do not acutally care about good comedy.
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9/10
one of the best German movie
oscaroscaar22 September 2020
One of the best german movie and every minute is worth watching and go ahead and watch it its a breath of fresh air in a controlled agenda pushing movie industries around the world
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1/10
not a ''German'' comedy
indigohamlet14 May 2021
Sorry people, I understand your happniess for a successful German comedy, but it is unfortunately remade. Original movie is Perfetti Sconosciuti. There are other versions such as Cebimdeki Yabanci, Le Jeu. Please do some research already :) My expectations for the director is very low though- considering his previous movies/series (e.g Türkisch für Anfänger), we are familiar with his non-existant humor. He does some so-called 'irony' for a comedy, which is nothing but humiliating Turkish people for years, (and which is completely unrealistic for the majority of Turkish people). Such a waste of time.
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8/10
No secret is safe
kosmasp19 May 2022
One of the apparently 22 remakes of the original Italian movie that sparked them. And what a great movie that was. But as it seems not one that can not be remade and in certain instances even improved. There are some fine tweaks made to the plot and the characters that work quite nicely - for those who have seen the original but also for the new ones - to enhance everyones viewing experience.

Of course there are also things that worked way better in the original - especially when it comes to the dialog of key scenes. But that's nitpicking - because overall this is very well done. And if you haven't seen the other one, you are probably wondering what I am going on about. Secrets are a delicate thing - big secrets especially. This does not end the way the original ended. For better or worse ... again a few things have been handled better and one thing is ... painfuly to watch - pun intended. And not giving out any good moral or otherwise advice to the viewers either ... that aside, the acting is fine, the story is more than fine and this is therefor one of the better German movies that were produced that year.
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2/10
A Forced Drama if there ever was one
michael-615033 January 2023
This movie is impressive, but not in the way that (the presumably paid) positive reviews put it. It is the most forced drama I ever witnessed on screen, with laughably stupid dialogue, a "twist" that you can see a mile ahead and banal moral lesson at the end. The whole script is basically one tired cliché after another, taken straight out of a telenovela, and induces lethal levels of cringe from start to end. I sincerely don't understand how anyone can manage suspension of disbelief, as the premise is unrealistic, especially more so as the story progresses.

Of course, to satisfy the Current Thing, the "good guy" turns out to be someone other than what he appears to be, and cheap shots are fired at the "bigots", so that the intellectually lazy can pat themselves on the shoulder. This stands in contrast to the cynical and unlikeable way the "friends" interact with each other for the whole evening. There is overt ridicule, backstabbing, envy and just plain aggression that in the real world would turn friends to enemies in a second, but apparently not in this parallel universe of make-belief scriptwriting.

The camera work was okay, the acting mixed with some good and bad outliers, but there is no way to save the viewer from an overdose of Fremdscham. Take this as a warning and spend your time in some superior way, eg getting drunk at the gas station with cheap Lambrusco.
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2/10
Homophobic and misogynistic
OPPATRIA_5 November 2019
German comedies are not only stupid, unfunny and primitive, they also spread fire-threatening ideologies: Til Schweiger is not an isolated case, his colleague Bora Dagtekin has already taught the audience to despise the poor with his " Ju Göhte" series. Only those who submit to the dictates of the majority are integrated. This motif now returns in Dagtekin's new comedy "The Perfect Secret", but this film now has new victims: women and gays. Til Schweiger's film "Klassentreffen 1.0" was already homophobic and misogynistic, Dagtekin's work follows on from it, even though he proceeds a little more subtly - and thus is actually only more perfidious.
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