MOVIE · 2002

Secretary

ComedyDramaRomance111 min

Recently released from a mental hospital, Lee Holloway takes a secretarial job at a small law office and finds herself drawn into an increasingly intimate arrangement with her employer. Maggie Gyllenhaal is Lee, awkward, watchful, and eager for structure; James Spader’s E. Edward Grey is a meticulous attorney whose corrections and demands push their workplace routine into a charged BDSM relationship. Typing drills, dictated letters, and office rituals give the film a dry, off-kilter comic streak as Lee tests how much of herself she can remake inside the rules Grey lays down.