The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

The romance in The Secret in Their Eyes moves so slowly that the two leads age decades waiting for one of them to say something. Benjamín is a retired court investigator turning an old case into a novel, and Irene is the boss he never found the nerve to talk to. Ricardo Darín and Soledad Villamil play both their younger and older selves, and the aging is sometimes more makeup than magic. That’s the weak spot. The rest is gripping. Juan José Campanella builds the investigation like a lock slowly clicking open, and the camera swoops over a packed soccer stadium and into the crowd in what feels like one breathless move. Guillermo Francella is the soul of it as Sandoval, funny and sad and smarter than he lets on. It made $35.1 million worldwide on a reported $2M. A 9.0 because it’s a mystery, a love story and a portrait of grief, and all three land. $53.36 says you finish this and finally say the thing you’ve been putting off to someone who’s waited years to hear it.

What works: Guillermo Francella’s Sandoval, the dazzling stadium sequence, and a mystery that cares as much about the people as the clues.

What doesn’t: The present-day romance moves at a crawl, and the aging makeup in the later scenes can pull you right out of the story.

Who it’s for: Fans of patient, grown-up crime dramas who don’t mind subtitles and like a little heartbreak with their mystery.