_**House of Secrets**_

Over 25 years after a serial killer’s reign of terror in a Kentucky town, a teen (Charlie Plummer) has suspicions about who the killer might be and enlists the help of an aficionado of the murders (Madisen Beaty). Dylan McDermott and Samantha Mathis play the parents.

"The Clovehitch Killer" (2018) is a drama/mystery with elements of coming-of-age, romance and crime thriller. The film effectively illustrates how people are not one-dimensional and not everything may be as it appears on the surface. Someone can seem generally good and even be generally good, having a convincing veneer of piety, and yet have a hidden dark side.

The movie works well because the setting and characters are convincing with focus on the relationship between the two youths and their sleuthing. There are some overt scenes of Christians and assembly, but the filmmakers don’t make the mistake of painting them as all frothing at the mouth with evil, actually quite the opposite. But the flick’s honest about the ambiguities of someone seeking redemption for grievous sins vs. hiding from them in plain sight.

In short, this is an effective psychological & spiritual mystery full of insights on the struggle with the beast within and the natural covering up thereof. On top of this, it’s just a quality coming-of-age drama.

The film runs 1 hour, 49 minutes, and was shot in Middletown, Kentucky, which is just east of Louisville.

GRADE: A-