Narrative Techniques In Every Secret Thing By Amy Berg

Every Secret Thing, released in 2014 and directed by Amy Berg, opens with the kidnapping and murder of an infant. The plot of the film revolves around this initial murder, as well as a second kidnapping that occurs years later. By showing flashbacks of the initial murder and its ensuing consequences, new insights arise of the second kidnapping, which Alice Fanning, the protagonist, commits. Through the majority of the film, the syuzhet points to Ronnie, a secondary character, as the primary suspect in the initial murder as well as the second kidnapping. The syuzhet in Every Secret Thing uses flashbacks, usually in the form of enacted recounting, to shed light on both crimes, during both separate time eras. Each flashback further challenges

In her first appearance as an adult, Ronnie works at a bagel shop where she calls a customer a “liar,” seeming to still not have developed a filter. She also smokes in this scene, appearing to still be a messed up individual. Meanwhile, Alice appears sweet and innocent. In her first scene as an adult, the syuzhet uses reduction to recap the important events that occurred between now and her childhood. As Alice walks, a voiceover of her plays, as she recites a statement she wrote intended to be read to a reality TV filmmaker. She describes how she was wrongly convicted of a crime she did not commit, and that she spent a long time in prison for no good reason. She also states that she is trying to lose weight by dieting and walking. This account frames her in a positive and believable manner. She really does seem innocent in this sequence, because no evidence contrary to her story has been presented, yet. Her statement distorts as well as omits important plot details yet again, keeping the film’s degree of communicativeness low. At no point does she mention her pregnancy, or the real reason why she takes so many walks, which is to look for her child. She also lies about being innocent of the crime, since the syuzhet reveals later that she basically forces Ronnie to murder Olivia. But, all

This state of confusion ends definitively with the final scenes of the film, when the syuzhet reveals the fabula secrets in a final set of flashbacks. First, Alice re-tells her story to the police, offering a still distorted but more complete account of the true events. She confesses that she stole Brittany, the girl in the second kidnapping, because she believes that Brittany is her daughter. Through this revelation, another instance of enacted recounting occurs, this time by Helen, Alice’s mother. Here, she admits to lying to Alice about having seen her daughter. In turn, this reveals that Alice was not really walking to lose weight, but rather to look for her daughter. Then, Ronnie has her final flashback, of her killing Olivia, as she kills herself in a bathtub in the present. It is not until the very final shot of the film when the truth comes out definitively. In this shot, Alice as a child stands in place of Ronnie, looking down at Olivia before stealing her. This shot is not a flashback from a specific character in the film, but rather it is the syuzhet giving a direct look at the true fabula event, for the first time. This last shot proves that Alice is the real criminal, that she stole Olivia, and that she forced Ronnie to kill Olivia for her. Through this