Secrets and Lies
Nearly a decade and a half ago, an English writer named Christopher Reid drew attention with a piece called Lunch Song. It’s a narrative poem about a lunchtime encounter where two people fall in love, a moment that feels almost fleeting yet lasting in memory. A television adaptation kept the poetry intact, leaving the mood intact as well: a 2010 BBC feature that balanced lyricism with accessible storytelling. The cast included Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson in the foreground of this quiet romance.
It isn’t certain whether Danish director Janus Metz, known for Armadillo, Borg McEnroe, and work on True Detective and ZeroZeroZero, had seen the poem before directing Past with an Appointment for Prime Video, released on a recent Friday. Yet the inspiration is plausible. Ben Steinhauer later used Reid’s poetry as the seed for a novel that formed the basis of the film. In this adaptation, espionage and a turbulent romance mingle, with the Lunch Song’s muse replaced by a CIA framework and a writer who has made his mark in fiction.
Producers who have shaped notable projects, including a film about a modern star turned cultural icon and other acclaimed performers, contribute to bringing life and depth to the characters. Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison emerge as two ex-lovers and spies who reconnect over a quiet meal in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. What begins as a pleasant dinner conversation gradually shifts toward hard-edged revelations, culminating in a discussion about a jihadist hijacking incident—the doomed Royal Jordanian Flight 127, where every passenger perished. Henry, reporting to his superior Vic Wallinger, played by Laurence Fishburne, pursues a mission to identify a mole who leaked sensitive information to terrorists.
Secrets and Lies
As the lead investigators pursue the case, Henry and Celia revisit their own history, probing the intimate details that have unsettled him. Each new revelation tests the balance of power and trust, revealing how two people can share a secret world while guarding completely different truths from each other. The director calls this a simple story about two people working behind the veil of secrecy, in love yet never fully sure of what the other holds back. It is presented as the kind of narrative that can echo true marriages, where secrets live alongside affection and shared history.
During production, the team spoke with a veteran of the agency to understand what it means to work within such a system. The aim was to capture the emotional weight of service without sensationalizing it. The insights helped frame the emotional core of the story and how a life in espionage can intrude on personal relationships. The actors describe the challenge of portraying characters who reveal only fragments of the truth, using restraint to preserve the mystery that sustains tension throughout the plot.
Directors and producers discuss how their choices shaped the pacing and tone. The director’s careful balance—knowing what to reveal, what to withhold, and when to press for clarity—acts like a surgical cut that keeps the audience engaged without ever losing the sense of uncertainty. The cast notes that maintaining a sense of containment was essential to preserve the intrigue until the final moments. This approach helps the story feel both timely and timeless, a thriller that echoes the best paranoid dramas of decades past while still feeling contemporary.
A nod to classic intrigue
The project marks the first feature from a production company with a playful name and a century-old cinema sensibility. The collaboration between Pine, Metz, and their team leans into a thriller that nods to the era of Cold War suspense while using modern storytelling techniques. A well-chosen library of inspiring visuals guides every scene, drawing on the visual language of spy narratives from the era of thoughtful, character-driven tension. The conversations around the film mix reflection with lighthearted recollection, reminding audiences that even serious topics can be approached with wit and humanity. The result is a film that invites viewers to think about loyalty, memory, and the cost of secrets in intimate relationships, all set against a backdrop of carefully constructed intrigue.