The Secret: Dare to Dream is a 2020 American romantic drama film based on the 2006 self-help book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Directed by Andy Tennant, from a screenplay he wrote with Bekah Brunstetter and Rick Parks, it stars Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Jerry O'Connell, and Celia Weston.
Engineering professor and amateur inventor Bray Johnson shows the hard-working young widow Miranda Wells the power of positive thinking by example.
The film was released in the United States through video on demand, and theatrically in several countries, on July 31, 2020, by Roadside Attractions and Gravitas Ventures.
Contents
Plot
Miranda Wells is a hard-working young widow struggling to raise her three children Missy, Greg, and Bess while managing her boyfriend Tucker Middendorf's seafood restaurant in New Orleans. Bray Johnson is an engineering professor from Vanderbilt University looking to meet Miranda to deliver an envelope.
After Bray misses Miranda on his first try going to her house, they inadvertently meet when she accidentally rear-ends his truck with her car. He offers to fix Miranda's broken bumper, so he follows her to her home, after which she invites him to stay for dinner. Until they drive back he had not realized she is the same Miranda he came looking for. Bray and Miranda's son Greg fix the car bumper together.
Miranda's kids, Bess (the youngest), Greg, and Missy, want pizza for dinner, which Miranda cannot afford. Bray stresses the power of positive thinking just as a delivery person appears at the door with pizza ordered by Tucker. As he has never found the moment to give the envelope to Miranda, he leaves it in the mailbox before departing.
A hurricane hits that night, washing away the mailbox and causing a tree to fall through the roof. Bray comes back to check on them, sees the mailbox missing, and offers to fix the roof as best as he can. Miranda and the kids leave with the children’s grandmother, Bobby (the mother of Miranda’s late husband, Matt), to stay at her house while theirs is being repaired.
The next day, Tucker proposes to Miranda publicly at the restaurant's reopening. With all eyes on her, she reluctantly accepts. Bobby offers to stay with the kids that night so Tucker and Miranda can be alone.
The following day, at Missy's 16th birthday party, Bobby shows Miranda a news article about an invention with Bray's photo. The invention was also something Matt was linked to. Bobby assumes that Bray stole it from her son, so Miranda confronts him. He explains that he and Matt were working on it together but, in the fateful plane crash he died and Bray survived. He tries to explain that his sole purpose in coming was to give her a copy of the patent. Miranda will not listen and does not believe him, so asks him to leave.
Bray sends another copy of the patent to Miranda, who realizes the money from it would solve their family's problems. The family finds the old mailbox with the original copy of the patent, confirming that Bray was telling the truth. Miranda calls off her engagement with Tucker, knowing she does not truly love him, and also resigns her job at Tucker's restaurant.
A few days later, Miranda ends up at Bray's house to clear the air and meets his sister, who exclaims that Bray has gone to Miranda's. They meet at a Waffle House and embrace.
Sometime later, Miranda's family is living with Bray in Tennessee, and Bray buys a pony for Bess, which she has always wanted.
Production
In August 2017, it was announced Katie Holmes had joined the cast of the film, with Andy Tennant directing from a screenplay he wrote alongside Bekah Brunstetter and Rick Parks, based on the 2006 self-help book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The book has been translated into 50 languages and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 190 weeks. In September 2018, Josh Lucas joined the cast of the film. In November 2018, Jerry O'Connell and Celia Weston joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography began on October 30, 2018, in New Orleans.
Release
In November 2019, Roadside Attractions and Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film. It was scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was pulled from the schedule. Roadside Attractions originally stated that it would announce a new theatrical release "[o]nce clarity for a safe and comfortable moviegoing experience is established", but the film's theatrical release was eventually canceled. Instead, it debuted through video on demand on July 31, 2020.
Reception
VOD sales
In its debut weekend, The Secret: Dare to Dream was the top-rented film on FandangoNow, second at Apple TV, seventh on the iTunes Store, and 10th on Spectrum. In its second weekend the film finished second on FandangoNow's weekly rental chart, and placed on two others.
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 28% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "For those who Dare to Dream of a worthy dramatic adaptation of The Secret, this sodden romance will prove a disappointment too painful to visualize." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
For her performance in this film, Katie Holmes was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress.
