Netflix’s The Secret Woman is a twist-filled thriller with some shortcomings

📺 Netflix’s foreign thriller roster just got a Danish addition, giving us an attractive hook but a lukewarm finish with the 2-hour film The Secret Woman. Directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg, the drama-chiller serves up a classic mystery of amnesia, corporate crime, personal vendettas, and a slew of plot twists — and while the premise had us hooked, it ultimately falls short of its setup with underdeveloped characters and a plot riddled with holes.

The plot: Louise Anderson (Natalie Madueño) lives in Norway, where she runs a café and is about to get engaged to crime writer Joachim (Pål Sverre Hagen). She has been living with complete amnesia for two years, with no memory of her past life before she was found on a ship. When a stranger mistakes her for a woman named Helene at the cafe, she is prompted to dig into her past — determined to uncover her real identity and what caused her amnesia. After confirming her identity with a DNA test, Louise discovers that she is actually Helene Söderberg, a Danish shipping heiress who has been missing for two years. She reunites with her former husband Edmund (Claes Bang) and her son Alexander — and the plot thickens from there.

Our thoughts: The Secret Woman delivers great acting performances from the Danish cast, with a plot that had us on the edge of our seats — until revelations started unfolding and things became increasingly less convincing. The mystery is well set up, as glimpses into Helene’s past and the events leading up to her accident and memory loss raise questions and suggest that something darker might be at play.

However, the more the protagonist starts connecting the dots, the more rushed and half-baked the story feels. On top of an already familiar premise, the plot relies too heavily on Helene’s absurdly convenient flashbacks and sudden memory retrievals to move things along. The ending, especially, bothered us, brushing over deeper character development and tying up loose ends even more loosely just to wrap an already stretched-thin runtime.

The verdict: All this to say, The Secret Woman proved an enjoyable watch, although one with plenty of unfulfilled potential if only the plot was fleshed out more thoughtfully. It’s a solid thriller pick if you’re looking for a modest mystery to keep you entertained for a couple of hours.

WHERE TO WATCH- The Secret Woman is streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:03).