Painful Secrets (2000)

I'll tell you why so serious

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Since the dawn of time, or at least since Hamlet, the existence of self-destructive behavior has been clearly recorded. What's funny is that it has historically been shown in a glamorous way, whether we're talking about Hamlet's cool early-Elizabethan Emo attitude, or Humphrey Bogart's suave whiskey-swilling alcoholism in Casablanca, or Batman's heroic death wish. Literature loves psychologically damaged heroes. But the real world often treats this sort of behavior with contempt, and that's what "Painful Secrets" depicts.Doesn't matter who you are, every person has known some feeling of self-harm, whether it's literally cutting like in this movie or smoking cigarettes or eating a triple fudge brownie against your doctor's orders. Obviously this movie takes it a bit further than triple fudge brownies. Written by Steven Levenkron, a respected psychotherapist who has been studying disorders like anorexia since the 1970s, "Painful Secrets" takes an informed approach to the tricky subject of self-mutilation.This is the story of a teenage girl whose dysfunctional family and social awkwardness lead her to cut herself, ironically, to control her pain. No, she doesn't do it for an orgasmic high like some people might think self-mutilation is about (that would be masochism); in this case she does it as a coping mechanism when her anxiety gets out of control. Not so different from the workout junkie at the gym who bench presses 350 lbs to feel the burn, "cutting" we learn is about physical control. The film assumes that you have some familiarity with the subject so it doesn't waste much time introducing the premise. Also don't expect a tidy Hollywood ending because something like this doesn't have any tidy Hollywood endings. Instead, this film delivers a very realistic story raising more questions than answers.Being a USA Network TV production, it does have a certain polished "ABC afterschool special" feel, but not annoyingly so. In fact the glossy exterior works to its advantage later in the film when things get suddenly more intense and raw. I was impressed to see that the film didn't pull any punches in the last half. Although there is no explicit gore & sexuality on screen, the implications are pretty clear."Painful Secrets" doesn't claim to tell the story of every troubled teen, but it does a pretty good job of hitting the common issues that accompany the phenomenon of self-injury. In particular: alienation from society (no friends), bullying in school and conflicts at home. It's the home life that I found to be very well done. Nothing cartoonish like some Cinderella wicked stepmom, but much more subtle and insidious: a mother whose own fear of blame leads her to unintentionally heap guilt on her daughter. And perhaps more frighteningly common in American homes: a failing marriage that is secretly absorbed by the children (note to fighting parents: you can NOT hide it from your kids, they're smarter than you are).The acting is very believable, with powerful moments from each major character: the girl (played by Kimberlee Peterson, known for The West Wing and Boston Public), the mother (played by Sean Young from the 80s thriller "No Way Out"), the father (played by Robert Wisden who has many TV credits from The X-Files to Stargate SG1 to Battlestar Galactica), and of course the therapist (played by Rhea Perlman from Cheers) who doesn't actually have a lot of screen time but plays each scene with the perfect amount of delicacy.Regardless of subject matter, I'm a fan of films that force the audience to work. I never found the story to be dull or predictable. It kept my mind working from start to finish. Despite all outward appearances of being a made-for-TV-movie, this is one of the most unusual of the lot, at times with an indie feel like "The Squid and the Whale" (another great film about a troubled teen with a lousy home life). "Painful Secrets" gets bonus points for being the only movie I've heard of that boldly tackles the issue of self-harm. Another good film to consider is "Archie's Final Project" a somewhat light-hearted (though respectful) film about teen suicide, or if you're not afraid of experimental indie flicks check out "The Tracey Fragments" with Ellen Page playing a 15-year-old girl who runs away from home following a horrible event.

Dawn Cottrell is a pretty, artistic girl who is just trying to fit into high school. Her one problem is that she suffers from a phenomenon known as 'self mutilation' where she injures herself by slashing at her skin to relieve stress. Not only is school difficult for Dawn, but her home life is less to be desired. She has an ignorant mother who poorly understands Dawn and her problem, a father who she can barely identify with and a brother who she does not see eye to eye with. Dawn later seeks help from a psychiatrist who assists to ease her pain.Secret Cutting depicts a topic that is in need of understanding, as self mutilation is often seen as taboo and as attention seeking. The film portrays 'cutters' to be sexually promiscuous, unstable and to live in dysfunctional families.Despite the flawed story line, Sean Young, Kimberlee Peterson and Rhea Pearlman were excellent actors.

This movie was very good but when others think you self harm because you want attention that's not true. i used to self harm, i used to cut myself with a razor blade and knives, for over 11 years just recently last year i stopped cutting myself and feel much better about myself. you don't just do it for attention but you feel you have a lot of pain bottled up inside you, well that's how i used to feel, in a lot of ways i can understand Dawn. i still find that i cope with my pain very difficultly especially when i need to take it out some how. but i'm trying, i've been seeing a psychiatrist and it really did,t help i'm not the kind to talk about my problems especially when you just sit there and stare blankly at a strangers face when they ask you so how do you feel and why do you feel you want to hurt yourself, i used to hate it i didn't like talking about my problems i felt my problems are my own and for me to solve.

I first watched this film on the Lifetime channel because my favorite actor, Kett Turton, was in it. I was hesitant to watch it at first, being a self injurer myself, I was worried it might be triggering for me. The first time I watched it, I had though it was done with an outstanding accuracy and had applauded it openly.I saw it again recently and realized, judging from my own personal experiences, that it isn't as accurate as I had once thought, but not too far off. A prime example of it's inaccuracy would be how excited Dawn seemed to get while cutting. It might be that way for some, but for me it seemed odd and a very unrealistic reaction unless she happened to be masochistic. But it's inaccuracy there is outnumbered by the accuracy I did find. The franticness in which she cut was precise and realistic. I also found the way she was so ashamed of her cuts and always hiding them is extremely characteristic of a self-injurer. It shows that contrary to popular belief, us self-injurers aren't all "attention whores", parading our scars and cuts, flaunting our pain. I believe that the first time I watched it when I was 13, I think I got what I wanted to from the film, and now being 16, I realize it's still the same: self-injury is slowly but surely making itself more main-stream and something needs to be done about it. I am an avid cutter myself, but luckily go through bouts of time where I won't even look at a sharp object. Self injury is a condition people should recognize more and this movie shows how serious it can get without the cutter realizing that it only takes one cut too deep and it could all be over. I will admit, I am a total hypocrite towards this issue: I say don't do it and I do it myself. I suggest this movie to anyone who is a self-injurer or have a friend or family member who injures themselves. If you hurt yourself or know someone who does, you should go to this site, it has a lot of good information whether you cut or not. http://www.self-injury.net/