Everyone Has Something to Hide

_Everyone Has Something to Hide_ is a very good, edge-of-your-seat mystery-thriller, very well-written by Leo McGuigan and Charlotte Pattullo. The script sets up the abusive home life very well with just the opening scene, and the transition to six years later doesn't feel jarring even though a lot has changed in that time. The mystery of what split the families apart is revealed slowly but naturally, but the animosity goes a long way in making the mystery surrounding Ethan's death feel even more natural as both mothers try to grapple with the loss and possible guilt of Noah. Even though there are hurt feelings here, it's clear they all still care very much for each other. As the story begins to unfold, there are many suspects to choose from, but at the same time there are reasons why we don't want to think any of them are responsible. It really never becomes clear who the killer, and attempted murderer and father of the baby, is until those photos drop and we learn Noah was going to be framed, but his virginity actually screwed everything up. That was a nice little twist to the story. There was one eye-rolling moment in the movie and some illogical actions -- like Kathy not specifically looking at red cars in the parking lot -- but overall, this is a taut thriller full of surprises that really pay off. Director Sean Cisterna (the excellent _The Body in the Locker_) does another masterful job of moving the story along while drawing some great performances from the cast, never allowing anyone to be too obvious. Even Detective Summers is portrayed as a cop with empathy, being stern with Kathy and Noah when she has to be, but never condescending. She's even given a nice moment at the hospital telling Kathy that she's off-duty but is staying there because Maddie's parents are away on a ski trip, making their way back, but she wants to be there so if Maddie wakes up she has someone there with her. This movie is really packed with moments of real humanity and emotion, elevating it above the typical LMN TV movie fare. If I have one gripe -- none of the music Noah has supposedly written is all that great. In the ten or fifteen seconds of the two pieces he plays on the piano, we near nothing more than what sounds like a few random notes that a cat walking across a keyboard could produce. It's nothing that would have people raving or earn him a scholarship to Berkeley. Also, the coat we see on the person who attacks Maddie is not the same coat the actual attacker is wearing, so that was a bit of unnecessary subterfuge. Better to not show the coat at all. Full review on HOTCHKA