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The story is set sometime relatively in present day Argentina. The Secret in their Eyes recounts life for retired federal court investigator (a sort of police detective) Benjamín Esposito, played by Ricardo Darin. Esposito pays a visit to his former colleague/supervisor Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil) . Superficially, the visit is to reacquaint with her, all the while informing her that he will be filling his time by writing about a case from 25 years ago. The case involved the brutal rape and murder of a young woman. The woman's husband, bank employee Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago), is devastated by the event. The murder is eventually pinned on two anonymous workers by Esposito's rival, Romano.

While investigating the case, however, Esposito comes across a suspect, Isidoro Gómez (Javier Godino). Esposito, using highly honed investigative instincts, suspects Gomez at first by simply alertly observing the man, an acquaintance to the victim, staring at her in several photos. Esposito and his subordinate, Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) eventually track him to a soccer stadium and in the film's signature action sequence, chase him through the corridors, bathroom and finally onto the field. With the advent of digital technology, filmmakers have fully embraced hand held filming devices and the immediacy they provide. Several high profile directors, Michael Mann for one, have used the technology in interesting ways. However, the sequence in The Secret in your Eyes is something entirely different. There is a feral quality to the images as a man is hunted. It is vaguely reminiscent of Janusz Kaminski's revolutionary opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan for its primal urgency.

The Secret in their Eyes pays exquisite attention to characterization. It really is its central purpose, as the interactions between them slowly begins to tease out the theme and meaning of the entire movie. Each character is richly realized in a way that is rarely seen in films by American movie audiences. One of the finer performances, for example, by Guillermo Francella as Pablo Sandoval is a subtle character. In the crass hands of a less skilled screenplay, this character, an unabashed alcoholic, would be portrayed for stray laughs and little more. Here, however, the film treats the character with an almost parental care. He's given purpose, depth and emotions other than those connected to his faults. He is an incredibly intelligent, intuitive investigator. He provides much of the movie's humor but it's rarely the material written for a hapless sidekick. Much of the humor is observational, things that the more perceptive of us see everyday, that makes us chuckle to ourselves and that mostly goes unnoticed. It's disarming and draws us into the character, adding to the movie, and above all is authentic.

The central relationship in The Secret in their Eyes is between Esposito and Irene Menéndez Hastings. It is what propels the film and allows it to discuss its themes. The two characters conduct a subtle, furtive and gentle courtship that is barely perceptible. It hardly progresses but is obvious to both that a longing in them exists for the other. And yet Esposito's reluctance to profess his feelings, perhaps aware of the class differences that exists between the two, makes him shy away from her. His inaction weighs him down with regret until they are reunited many years later.

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