Nobody Has to Know – TIFF21

A secret romance is reignited between a farmer's daughter and an amnesiac farmhand in Nobody Has to Know. Phil (Bouli Lanners) is a Belgian man working as a farmhand for Scottish farmer Angus (Julian Glover). Phil suddenly has a stroke in the middle of the field, though he recovers, albeit with temporary amnesia. Phil is assisted in his recovery by Angus' daughter Millie (Michelle Fairley), who reveals to Phil that they were secret lovers. This results in the romance between the two being reignited, however, the question arises whether Millie is being completely truthful with Phil.

Nobody Has to Know is a romantic drama written, directed by, and starring Bouli Lanners. Lanners stars alongside Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones) is this story of an amnesiac farmhand reigniting an apparent romance he had before suffering a stroke. However, as Phil slowly starts to regain his memory, he begins to realize the Minnie might not have been entirely honest with him.

While it is undoubtedly a well-shot film, taking place in the Scottish countryside, Nobody Has to Know ends up being a drab romantic drama that almost borders on soap opera at times. The fault is less the performance of Michelle Fairley, playing a character quite unlike her most well-known role of Catelyn Stark from Game of Thrones, and more that of Bouli Lanners, who is completely uninteresting in the lead role of Phil and would've been better staying behind the camera. Overall, Nobody Has to Know might be worth checking out if you like romantic tearjerkers, otherwise, I recommend you skip this one.

Nobody Has to Know is screening as part of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival

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