Released in 2007, The Secret takes the familiar Freaky Friday setup into a family tragedy: Hannah dies after a car crash, and her consciousness enters her 16-year-old daughter Samantha’s body. Samantha’s own consciousness lies dormant.
David Duchovny plays widowed father Ben Marris, who recognizes Hannah through private memories their daughter couldn’t know. They agree Hannah will live as Samantha in case their daughter returns, even as Hannah tries to preserve their emotional marriage. Ben and Hannah approach physical intimacy, but the scene presents both as horrified, and they don’t go through with it.
Living as Samantha exposes Hannah to parts of her daughter’s life she’d missed, including school pressure, a secret relationship and drug use. Samantha eventually returns fully, and the film ends with her using her mother’s handwriting.
The French-produced, English-language thriller remakes the 1999 Japanese film Himitsu, adapted from a Keigo Higashino novel. It grossed about $943,000 worldwide and skipped U.S. theaters, arriving on DVD and Blu-ray on August 26, 2008.
