Keeping Secrets

Bernard debuts with a formulaic postwar family drama. In 1976, Hannah Stein lives in New York City and writes celebrity profiles for Weekend magazine. A series of awkwardly shuffled flashbacks lay out the Steins’ path from Poland during WWII, when Hannah’s father, Hershel, successfully passed himself off as a gentile, in the process saving Hannah and her mother, Molly, from the Nazis. After the war, the trio immigrated to the U.S. as the Stone family. Now, Hershel’s declining health leads to a medical crisis, during which Hannah learns she’d had a sister who was separated from the family. The reveal comes as Hannah’s marriage is strained by her infertility, leading her to return to Poland to track down her secret sibling. The results of her search, though, are unfortunately predictable, and the lack of suspense is exacerbated by factual errors (such as Harry Truman being “reelected” as president). This has all been done before, to better effect. (Jan.)