An Open Secret | |
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Directed by | Amy J. Berg |
Starring | Michael Egan III Corey Feldman Todd Bridges Joey Coleman Mark Ryan |
Release date
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
An Open Secret is an American documentary film directed by Amy J. Berg, who decided to make the documentary after she was approached by Matthew Valentinas in 2011. Valentinas and Gabe Hoffman wanted to make a film about victims of sexual exploitation. Valentinas said, "We chose Amy because we didn't want it to be exploitative or tabloid. We wanted it to be empowering for the victims."
The film is a look into the issue of underage sexual abuse in the Hollywood-entertainment industry.
The documentary follows the stories of five former child actors whose lives were turned upside down by multiple predators, including the convicted sex offenders who owned and operated the now infamous Digital Entertainment Network.
The Hollywood Reporter says that the film offered a "sober look at accusations that lend themselves to sensationalism."
Flavorwire claims that "the film feels less shocking as a cult-of-celebrity document and more just quietly horrifying, as it details the trauma and the abuse of power inflicted on young men with stars in their eyes."
Indiewire described the documentary as "an incisive and utterly unflinching look at a subject too rarely scrutinized."
It has a score of 66 on Metacritic and a score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film has not been released to home video.
An Open Secret ran briefly in June and July 2015 in Seattle, Denver, New York, and Los Angeles. Following the announcement that Michael Egan had dropped his lawsuit against director Bryan Singer (also alleged by the film to have involvement with DEN), producers recut the film.