Secret Ceremony (1968)

In the haunting labyrinth of grief and delusion, Leonora Grabowski (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), a woman marred by the tragic death of her daughter, stumbles upon Cenci Engelhard (Mia Farrow), a peculiar, waif-like heiress caught in the web of her own mental anguish. Cenci, a twenty-two-year-old orphan grappling with the death of her mother, Margaret Engelhard, is drawn to Leonora due to an uncanny physical resemblance. This chance meeting ignites an unusual relationship, a dance on the tightrope of illusion and reality. Leonora, seeing in Cenci's delusion a chance to escape her dreary existence, willingly steps into the role of the late Margaret. In doing so, she rekindles her dormant maternal instincts, hoping to fill the void left by her own daughter's untimely demise. The fragile balance of their symbiotic relationship is threatened by lurking shadows from Cenci's past. Her paternal spinster aunts, Hannah (Peggy Ashcroft) and Hilda (Pamela Brown), have their covetous eyes on the Engelhard estate, intent on stripping it bare if they can't inherit it. The most dangerous spectre, however, is Cenci's stepfather, Albert (Robert Mitchum), who returns from abroad with predatory intentions, his unsettling attachment to Cenci possibly the root of her mental instability. As Leonora delves deeper into the labyrinth of Cenci's psychological turmoil, she finds herself committed to protecting her surrogate daughter at all costs. The fear of losing another child fuels her resolve, but will it be enough to keep the predators at bay? In the midst of an eerie ménage à trois, no one is safe. In this cryptic narrative, the lines between illusion and reality blur, leaving the audience to question - Where does the pretense end and the truth begin?

Secret Ceremony is a drama movie featuring Robert Mitchum.

Secret Ceremony is currently streaming on DIRECTV.