Shouting Secrets is an indie film from 2011, directed by Korinna Sehringer. The film focuses on the return of Wesley (Chaske Spencer), an Apache novelist rejected by his family over his popular novel and his troubles when his mother June is hospitalized by a stroke, forcing him to reconnect with his old family members, such as his brother Tushka (Tyler Christopher), his sister Pinti (Q'orianka Kilcher) and his father Cal (Gil Birmingham) as his family unravels and their dark secrets come to light.
The tropes contained in Shouting Secrets include:
- An Aesop:
- Everyone has secrets, but most people are fundamentally good. Tushka cheated on his wife with an underage girl, but admits his insecurities and never went any further than a kiss. Wesley didn't mean to abandon his family and his relationship with his book is more complex than it initially seemed. Cal starts out blaming his children and seemingly having been a cheater, but later admits he loved his wife with all his heart. Most of the characters are kinder and learn to overcome their flaws after revealing the secrets.
- "It's never too late to come visit your family." Whether you've abandoned them or not, it's always reasonable to come see the people you love, reiterated by Wesley at the end when he talks about the fleeting moments he has with the people he loves.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Tushka, Wesley responds by shouting "Well, at least I'm not out there FUCKING LITTLE GIRLS!", calling him on having an underage girlfriend. Unable to respond and driven to anger, Tushka promptly starts fighting.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Annie, Tushka's wife, responds to his attempts to get back into her good graces by asking him if he would undo what he did (Kissing an underage girl and cheating on her with said girl). Tushka can't manage a response.
- Bittersweet Ending: The family's mother dies, but her stroke has brought the family together and led them to reveal their secrets and become better people in the process, honoring their memory.
- Character Development:
- Wesley realizes just how much he loves his family and the value of their fleeting moments together, motivating him to finally start writing again.
- Tushka admits his insecurities and genuinely tries to make amends rather than hiding his true nature.
- Cal is more generous to his children and to Brody by the end, mending his relationship with Wesley.
- Brody admits he wants to spend his life with Pinti, but also that he won't force her to marry him.
- Manly Tears: For all Cal is a man's man, the waterworks come out at his wife's funeral.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Wesley and Tushka corner Brody and tell him that if he does anything bad to their sister Pinti, they'll break his legs. Their father Cal, meanwhile, is much more welcoming of Brody.
- Nice Girl: Tushka's girlfriend is, despite Tushka's own sleaziness in dating her, a kind teenage girl who shows him nothing but empathy.
- No Name Given: Tushka's underage girlfriend, who offers him a helping hand, goes unnamed.
- Rage Against the Heavens: Wesley's rant against the women coming in to pray after his mother goes under and seemingly isn't getting out of hospital care carries an edge of this, as he shouts about how God is not coming to save his mother.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Tushka calls Wesley out on abandoning the family, only shut up by Wesley's Armor-Piercing Response calling him out for his own dirty secrets.
- Wesley goes absolutely berserk on the praying women when it becomes clear his mother isn't getting out of the hospital, deriding their beliefs and telling them that no God is coming.
- Wesley delivers a brutal speech to Cal for cheating on his mother, only stopped by Cal revealing she was the one who had rejected him.
- Rousseau Was Right: Human beings in Shouting Secrets are flawed, but kind. Even in their worst moments, serial cheaters like Cal and Tushka (Who's also somewhat sleazy and kissed an underage girl), people willing to abandon their family like Wesley, and starving artists like Brody are misguided at worst.
- Running Gag: Women coming in to loudly pray, disturbing the family with over-the-top prayers. Ultimately darkly subverted when the mother goes under and Wesley breaks into a furious rant.
- The Stoner: Brody is a regular smoker of weed, and a broken-down Cal decides to indulge in some as well, with disastrous consequences when he gets into an argument with Wesley.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Wesley's frequent arguments with his father are partially rooted in Cal's disapproval of him, though the two gradually bond after it escalates.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Wesley furiously tries to argue with Cal that he was justified in leaving his family for a wider world by calling him on not showing up to his book release. Cal angrily yells that his grandson's arm was broken.
