Secrets We Keep–Lies and Privilege?
The Danish “Nordic noir” series, Secrets We Keep (2025), centers around the disappearance of an attractive Filipino au pair, Ruby (Donna Levkovski), from a wealthy Copenhagen home. An investigation is requested by Ruby’s wealthy neighbor, Cecilie (Marie Bach Hansen). No one else in the affluent neighborhood seems to care enough to cooperate with the investigation–most notably Katrina, Ruby’s insufferable employer as well as trophy wife to Rasmus, one of Denmark’s wealthiest and most powerful businessmen. Cecilie is deeply disturbed by their entitled indifference, and gradually becomes estranged from Katrina (Danica Curcic), her former best friend, and Rasmus.
If Ruby had been white or Danish, would an investigation have been conducted immediately? Ruby’s friends think so and spearhead an investigation and search on their own. Complicating the police investigation by new police detective Aicha (Sara Fanta Traore) is the fact her commissioner wants to rule Ruby’s disappearance not worthy of further detective work. Cecilie’s husband, Mike (Simon Sears), has a professional and financial dependence upon Rasmus (Katrina’s husband), his most important client. Mike seems reluctant to get involved. Cecilie begins to wonder about his fealty to her and his sense of common decency.
Because Ruby was a Filipina domestic worker, her life and that of the other nannies seems to be fungible to their wealthy Danish employers. Rather condescending (and racist) about what their nannies do to support their lifestyle, the Danish privileged class is excoriated in Secrets We Keep. Tackling hard truths like closing ranks from outsiders, keeping secrets in order to protect each other, even potential abusers, Secrets We Keep signals that Ruby, her family, and friends, will not get justice. She will not even be remembered.
Secrets We Keep is not only a Nordic noir missing-person mystery. It is a brutal, eviscerating reflection of how the wealthy belittle the very people who keep their lives functioning.
Will there be a perpetrator who must face a judicial system? Will he or she be punished for their crimes? Or will there be more silence, more looking away and denial? A young woman’s life has ended abruptly but will those in power walk away without consequence? Who has impunity, knowing they are not only above the law, but that the legal system itself is part of the servant class that props them up?
Secrets We Keep also, in a subplot, provokes the viewer to explore the dark side of social media. The role the “screen” plays in developing a toxic male culture among bored teenage boys is displayed in its total objectification of women and girls, setting the stage for misogyny and violence while the boys are in the liminal zone of puberty (like “Adolescence”, see March 30, 2025 review). A wider societal analysis of the dynamics of children raised by nannies whom they love and know better than their parents is a pioneering introduction to cinema.
The layered storytelling and slow-burn murder mystery retain the viewer’s attention until the very last scene. In a deeply disturbing, rushed manner, the prime suspect is disclosed in the penultimate scene. While building suspense is requisite for a superior whodunit, the finale is somewhat disappointing, merely a set-up for the second season to polish the narrative to a satisfying conclusion.
Highly recommend.
Availability: Netflix