A new Danish Netflix movie, The Secret Woman, is capturing the attention of viewers worldwide.
The thriller was released on the streamer last week, and quickly shot up to the No. 2 slot on the Netflix’s list of top 10 trending movie titles in the U.S., just behind the new Robert De Niro movie, The Whisper Man. If a random Danish movie is competing with De Niro, it must be fascinating!
Directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg (Loving Adults) and written by Topsøe-Rothenborg and Anders August (Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction), The Secret Woman is based on the 2017 Danish novel, Den Hemmelige Kvinde, by Anna Ekberg (which is the pen name for two male authors, Jacob Weinreich and Anders Rønnow Klarlund). This twisty thriller follows the story of a woman who lost all her memories two years prior, and has started building a new life. But then, her old past comes back to haunt her.
The Secret Woman movie is a mystery that unfolds, but just when you think you have it figured out, the movie hits viewers with a (possible) shocking plot twist that changes everything. Read on to learn more about The Secret Woman plot summary and The Secret Woman movie ending explained, including if Helene actually has amnesia. Spoilers ahead!
The Secret Woman plot summary:
A Danish woman living in Norway, named Louise (Natalie Wolfsberg Madueño), gets engaged to her boyfriend of two years, Joachim (Pal Sverre Hagen). Soon after, she is approached by a mysterious man who addresses her as “Helene” and tells her he has information for her about her past. Louise insists she has no idea who the man is. It’s soon revealed that Louise is an amnesiac who was discovered on a ship two years ago, with no idea who she was. She had an ID on her that identified her as Louise Anderson, and she told authorities, yes, she was Louise. She says she did this because she was scared, but in fact, had no memory of who she actually was.
Louise gets a DNA test done, and discovers that she is actually Helene Söderberg. She has a husband named Edmund (Claes Bang) and a young son named Alexander (David Elting). She’s an executive at a shipping company, which was owned by her late father. Helene decides to meet her husband and son that she doesn’t remember, but she promises Joachim that she still loves him and plans to marry him. Nevertheless, she temporarily moves into the giant mansion where Edmund and Alexander live with Edmund’s mother, Caroline (Stina Ekblad).
Edmund tells Helene that before she disappeared, she was distraught over the recent death of her father. He had fallen ill very quickly, and Helene was caring for him. Her father died falling down the stairs while home alone, and Helene is the one who discovered him. Edmund said Helene was suicidal, and he assumed she had killed herself after she disappeared.
It doesn’t take very long for Helene to uncover some holes in Edmund’s story. She remembers things in flashes, like fighting with Edmund. She eventually uncovers that before she disappeared and lost her memories, she had discovered that her father and Edmund had been using the shipping company to engage in human trafficking. Helene had been meeting with a sex worker, Louise Anderson, who had proof that the shipping company was allowing their containers to be used for trafficking.
Helene confronts Edmund, and tells him if Edmund lets her and her son leave, she will not release the evidence that she has. Edmund refuses, and gets back-up in the form of his mother. It’s a bit complicated, but it turns out that Edmund’s mother, Caroline, had an affair with Helene’s dad, Aksel, and she knew all about the sex trafficking. After Aksel left Caroline to be with Helene’s mother instead (no incest, this time!), Caroline blackmailed Aksel into hiring her son. When she learned that Aksel, on his deathbed, wanted to confess the company’s crimes, Caroline killed him, to protect her son and the company.
But Helene figured out what happened, and teamed up with the sex worker Louise, with a plan to expose the company. Edmund killed Louise, but Helene escaped by jumping off a bridge onto a passing barge. That’s how she hit her head, lost her memories, and ended up in Norway.
Edmund kept tabs on Helene, but let her live, because he did love her in his own twisted way. At first, he thought the amnesia was just an act, but was eventually convinced it was real, and that Helene was no longer a threat to the company. But he didn’t like seeing her with another man, and after she got engaged to Joachim, he finally snapped and brought her back.
The Secret Woman ending explained:
Caroline wants to finish Helene off, but Edmund doesn’t want to kill her. He prevents his mom from getting to Helene, giving Helene a chance to strike Edmund from behind. Edmund loses his grip on his mother, and she falls out of a second story window to her death.
Thankfully, Joachim had the foresight to call the police, and they show up and arrest Edmund. (Apparently, they have no interest in even questioning Helene, who is arguably the one who killed Edmund’s mother.)
In the final scene, we see Helene and Joachim on vacation with Alexander. It seems Alexander has accepted Joachim as his new dad, no problem. While Joachim and Alexander play in the water, Helene comments that Alexander always loved swimming. Surprised, Alexander asks his mom if her memories are coming back. “A few things, yes,” Helene replies.
Helene then turns and looks directly at the camera, with a knowing smirk. Creepy music starts to play in the background, and with that, the movie ends. Wait… what?
Did Helene really have amnesia in The Secret Woman movie?
That final knowing look to the camera, combined with the haunting music, seems to imply that perhaps Helene never really had amnesia, and in fact was faking it the whole time. After all, Edmund even mentioned that he was suspicious she was faking, but was eventually convinced the amnesia was real.
So if Helene didn’t actually lose her memories, why would she pretend that she had, and abandon her son for two years, leaving him with a guy she knew was a murderer? Well, the argument could be made that Helene knew Edmund was watching her, and was biding her time in order to convince him she had lost her memories, so that she could eventually re-infiltrate her life, safely, and be reconnected with her son.
Edmund did mention that there was very little connecting him to the sex trafficking. Perhaps Helene was worried Edmund would frame her for the company’s crimes, and win their son in a custody battle, if she tried to just barge back into their lives. But thanks to Helene’s little plan, she was able to keep the company, the money, her son, and her shiny new husband.
None of this is explicitly explained—it’s just left up for the viewer to guess. Perhaps things are made more clear in the book by Anna Ekberg. (If any Danish readers have read the novel, please let us know in the comments!) As it is, this “twist” comes out of left field without any build up, if it even really is a twist at all. Maybe Helene looking at the camera was just a weird style choice. Maybe her memories really are coming back slowly.
What’s your take on The Secret Woman ending? Let me know in the comments.