Family Secrets is a Polish romantic comedy series on Netflix about a couple’s wedding that goes horribly wrong as they unearth family secrets and lies surrounded by a mysterious disappearance.
Story
Family Secrets follow Kaska on her way to the altar as she recounts the beginning of her medical career with Pawel, meeting her fiancé Jan, and her problematic relationship with her mother.
Dorota and Emil reflect on their past sins and the affairs that wrecked their marriage while rushing to find Kaska’s mother, who isn’t present at her own daughter’s wedding. Alicja and Robert recall the tragic events that lead to their first meeting, while Kaska learns the truth about Pawel and Dorota’s relationship.
An unexpected guest at the end creates a ruckus, causing the ceremony to be delayed. Jan reflects on his problematic family relationship, friendship with Robert, and break-up with Anka. Despite Małgosia’s wishes, Kaska’s father Marek arrives at the wedding. Kaska confronts her feelings for Pawel, his relationship with Dorota, and the pregnancy.
Dorota recalls Emil’s affair, her attraction toward her student Pawel, and the day Pawel disappeared after getting sick at church.
Jan confronts Kaska about his involvement in Paweł’s disappearance while the medics examine Kaska. As the day draws to a close, Małgosia helps her daughter in reuniting with Pawel, the guy she loves. Jan attempts to make amends with Kaska and Pawel by calling off the wedding.
Performances
Eliza Rycembel as Kaska, Izabela Kuna as Malgosia, and Malgorzata Mikoajczak as Alicja are the series’ main cast, and they are particularly impressive as the mother and daughters of a dysfunctional family.
Strong supporting performances are given by Bartosz Gelner as Jan and Piotr Pacek as Pawel with their sincere and driven acting.
Edyta Olszówka as Dorota and Pawel Delag as Emil, this husband-and-wife duo performs the ideal antagonist roles and drives the plot forward. Marcin Korcz’s performance as a drag queen steals the show, which portrays queerness as normal and acceptable.
Positives
Each episode introduces new characters and their perspectives, building suspense until the finale about what happened to Pawel and whether or not the wedding will take place. The story contains numerous surprises, some more obvious than others, but all feel earned and reasonable.
The cliffhanger ending surprises the viewers by hinting at the upcoming second season of the series. Even with the time jumps, the cinematography is outstanding, keeping the audience from being lost in the action.
Negatives
This series is more about things becoming messy as each episode goes by than it is about reality and, with so many characters fainting one after another whenever anything shocking is revealed to them, it almost feels too melodramatic.
Unnecessary tension is developed regarding Kaska’s actions during the wedding and the father of the child. Since everything becomes quite clear by the second episode, the series isn’t even able to keep the mystery.
There is a lot of yanking back and forth in the timeline, which makes sense at first but becomes boring and repetitive after a while.
Verdict
The narrative is mainly a mystery, which builds suspense until the end surrounding Pawel’s disappearance, and the events that occur in between are comical in nature, albeit unintentionally. This never-ending drama makes the series quite entertaining and well worth your time.
Family Secrets
Director: Lukasz Ostalski
Date Created: 2022-08-31 12:30
3.5
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