Miranda is a single mother. Not long ago her husband died in a plane crash, and now she is struggling to make ends meet. Problems pile up, money bills grow. As luck would have it, she also gets into a car accident trying to use her phone, and by evening, a hurricane won’t want to get around the small town and collapses a tree on the roof of her house. Miranda is helped not to lose her mind by a mysterious stranger named Bray, whom the girl crashed into during the day. He captivates the housemates with his charm and talks about inspiring ideas. Not long ago, life was meaningless, but now he has managed to find his place and become happy. His optimism is enough for the Wells family.
“The Secret” is an adaptation of ideas from Rhonda Byrne’s motivational book of the same name. In the end, the title The Secret evolved into a worldwide rave built around the idea of the right mindset, or as the author called it, “the law of attraction.” “You know, with the power of thought we can control the world quite real,” one of the main characters will reveal that very secret. Once contact with the universe is established, life will immediately begin to improve. What will you do if you want a pizza? Will you look for delivery, check reviews and order, or maybe try to bake it yourself or buy a half-finished pizza at the nearest supermarket. The characters in “The Secret” will laugh right in your face. All they will need to do is ask the universe correctly and wait for the surrounding energy and an unlikely chain of coincidences to bring a messenger with boxes of hot food to the door. One of the main skills needed to implement these ideas is patience. Who knows how loud you can shout into the bottomless void of the universe and how quickly it will hear you.
Sometimes, though, even our requests are too much. Near the end, the picture will lead us to the even simpler thought of “All things considered, all things are for the best,” though we may have to wait a little longer. For the secret will turn out to be very simple and ineffective. The whole responsibility of life being placed on right and wrong thoughts looks faded, even in movie format. Perhaps this story lacks a truly vivid and memorable drama. The local tragedies do not feel like something terrible, much less irreparable.
The plot that binds the local ideas together feels more like a subdued magic tale for the most impressionable. This is a fairly typical melodrama, not far removed from the daytime serials of the Home TV channel. You’ll find: a simple love triangle in which the good and hard-working guy has no chance, and his rival looks a bit like a sectarian; a nagging mother-in-law who doesn’t forget to hint that the main character is a “divorcee with a trailer”; and, of course, children who aren’t happy with poverty, because they’re not getting a brand-new MacBook or a cute pony. The universe will help anyone and everyone, though only in the movies.
