Secrets in the Attic (2016) (aka: Boy in the Attic) Abbie Cobb, Max Lloyd-Jones, Gina Holden, Michael St. John Smith, Iain Belcher, Christina Jastrzembska Movie Review

Secrets in the Attic (2016)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Abbie Cobb in Secrets in the Attic (2016) (aka: Boy in the Attic)

Abbie in the Attic

Rachel (Gina Holden - Cradle of Lies) and her daughter, Callie (Abbie Cobb - Teenage Bank Heist), have inherited her grandmother's old house, which happens to be in a small community where a couple of months earlier there was a murder with the killer still on the run. But Callie discovers they have inherited something else as she discovers Michael (Max Lloyd-Jones - Restless Virgins), a teenager hiding in the attic as he has been falsely accused of murder. Having fallen for his blue eyes, blonde hair and big smile Callie agrees to keep his secret but must decide whether to risk his limited freedom or protect him.

I don't know about you but I know 2 things; one it doesn't take much to cause noise in an attic and two trying to move around in one where the floorboards are often at their most creaky is nigh on impossible. As such the basic set up of "Secrets in the Attic" is hard to swallow especially when we have Michael not only sneaking in and out of the attic but also in and out of the house.

Max Lloyd-Jones in Secrets in the Attic (2016) (aka: Boy in the Attic)

But in fairness "Secrets in the Attic" is not just about Michael's ninja like ability to move around an old house without a creak we also have the murder which he has been accused of. Plus on top of that we have a bit of romance as Callie falls for him in a huge way. The thing is that the whole murder and mystery side of the movie just doesn't grip you and it seems that the writers felt the same as there are extra, almost random, bits of mystery added in which have little purpose other than to fill the movie out and make it 90 minutes.

What this does is turn "Secrets in the Attic" from a movie with amurder mystery storyline to a movie with an attractive cast with both Abbie Cobb and Max Lloyd-Jones having something about them which probably appeals to a teenage audience. But these are typically the usual sort of characters without much depth and who have dialogue which in the real world would get laughed at.

What this all boils down to is that "Secrets in the Attic" is just a middle of the road, modern, made for TV thriller which ends up as much about the look of the cast as the actual story. It isn't so much that "Secrets in the Attic" is a bad movie but it is one which suffers from some typical flaws when it comes to the TV movie genre.


LATEST REVIEWS