Keeping Secrets reflects how painful truth can be – and in this case, it’s just as painful to sit through. It’s an hour too long, with rough performances and pacing that makes the viewer feel like they are trudging through molasses. The interesting summary frames viewers up for more than the film has to offer; it takes two hours to build up a ten-minute finale that feels incredibly rushed and unsatisfying compared to the setup it should have had. Even though this film deals with harsh truths, sometimes it feels better not explore them at all.

Police officer, Samantha Walker, is already at her limit with having to face sexism and racism on and around the job. Not making friends with her superiors is the least of her concerns as a serial killer begins terrorizing the town and hunting local women employed at various clubs. Sam must go undercover at a club and hopefully stop this killer before they claim another victim.

Samantha Walker (Bridgette Michelle Bentley) was a shining beacon in an otherwise dismal cinematic experience. Keeping Secrets may not have been the most exciting movie, but Bentley was magnetic in her role, quickly making it her own with charisma and skill. She outshone the rest of the cast, whose performances were mostly either forgettable or serviceable, yet none could be considered bad. If nothing else, Samantha made Keeping Secrets watchable and added some much-needed life to an otherwise dimly lit production.

It’s when we look past the actors themselves that we see the rough spots. Even though the overall script may be passable, there are those sporadic moments when dialog feels natural and true to life – almost enough to lead you to believe there is something special lurking beneath its surface. Unfortunately, these brief glimpses of potential greatness quickly fade away as soon as they appear.

The same can be said from a technical level as well. The lighting is just okay most of the time since most scenes take place in doors, there isn’t much see. The audio firmly stays in the middle ground also, with no areas of the sound being better or worse than anything else. One aspect that I found to be a pleasant surprise, were the practical effects. With such a focus on Samantha and what not, I wasn’t expecting the brief flashes of violence and gore to be so well done.

Keeping Secrets tries to be something different, in the way it wraps social issues into a serial killer story, but it doesn’t lean into either enough to justify its existence. What we get is a bloated mess of a film that is just an absolute bore to sit though. Even the great performance of the lead or the brief glimpses of biting commentary aren’t enough to make this worth sitting though.