For years, young Aicha (Hafsia Herzi) has been (illegally) living in
the remote and well-hidden servant quarters of a vast yet abandoned
mansion with her mother (Wassila Dari) and sister Radia (Sondos
Belhassen). Then though, new tenants, young couple Salma (Rim El Benna)
and Ali (Dhaffer L'Abidine) move into the main wing of the mansion, which
of course puts the home of Aicha and her family at risk - and yet, Aicha
is totally fascinated by the newcomers and their liberal lifestyles,
especially since her world pretty much begins and ends with the mansion
and the premises. When Salma and Ali have a party, Aicha steals some of
Salma's cloths and mingles with the guests - but is found out and can only
narrowly escape without giving away her family's hiding place. As a
consequence, her mum and sister from now on always tie her up when they
leave home to get some food or something. At one such instance, tied up
Aicha drops a glass, which attracts Salma's attention, who finds her and
tries to save her - but is instead made captive by Aicha and her family.
Ali is looking for her for days, but without ever finding the servant
quarters, and eventually he cheats on Salma with a friend and leaves the
mansion for good. Salma is heart-broken, but since Aicha and family show
sympathy, she soon gets closer to them and the four of them eventually
inhabit the main wing of the mansion. Especially in Aicha, Salma finds a
friend, since Aicha is fascinated by her urban lifestyle, and they
actually make plans to leave the mansion together. Then though, Salma
finds out the family secret that made Aicha and family hide out in the
mansion forever after: Radia obviously has been impregnated by her own dad
and has given birth to a beast, both of whom were then killed and buried
near the mansion. More than anything else, this revelation shows to Salma
that she has to make a getaway, even if she hasn't got a proper plan ...
but unfortunately her hasty escape is stopped by Radia, who kills her in
cold blood. When Aicha learns about this, she's pushed over the edge,
kills her mum and sister and (just like she planned to do with Salma)
leaves for the next city to leave in freedom ... though covered in blood
(even literally) ... Taking quite a few pointers from Shirley
Jackson's novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, writer/director
Raja Amari has nevertheless managed to turn Buried Secrets into a
highly original and quite creepy film that might seem a bit dull towards
the start but builds up tension all throughout until it culminates in its
mean-spirited finale - and yet the film does everything to avoid
sensationalist elements (like special effects or on-screen murders) to
tell its story, instead leaves it to the great cast - coupled with a subtle
directorial effort of course - to get its narrative across. Definitely
recommended!
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