[3] The film stars Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald, and Nate Parker, and is notable for being Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand's debut as producer.

18-year-old Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning have just been released from Juvenile Hall after serving 7 years for the kidnapping and murder of the bi-racial infant granddaughter of the county's first black judge.

Alice also secretly dreams of finding validation through reality TV stardom, and is shown several times practicing a speech about being a "victim" of the justice system.

Two weeks after Ronnie and Alice return home a couple are shopping in a furniture store with their young bi-racial daughter, Brittany Lyttle.

It turns out at age 15 in Juvenile Hall Alice fell into a sexual relationship with a janitor named Rodrigo who worked there, and who was eventually fired when their affair was uncovered.

This is intercut with Ronnie at home in her bathroom, where still overwhelmed by guilt over the original kidnapping and murder, she commits suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathtub.

It is revealed shortly after that Alice made a deal with the district attorney, and that all charges against her have been dropped while Rodrigo is arrested for the kidnapping and statutory rape.

Porter and Jones watch in disgust and Alice revels in the media attention, and gives the speech she practiced about being an innocent victim of the justice system for the news cameras.

On August 10, 2010, Deadline Hollywood reported that actress Frances McDormand had bought the rights to the 2004 crime novel Every Secret Thing written by Laura Lippman, and that she would produce the film with a business partner, Anthony Bregman.

It was widely reported in October 2014 that Starz and Anchor Bay Entertainment had acquired the rights to distribute Every Secret Thing in the United States.

WME Global negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers and it was for theatrical release, home video and pay TV.

"Every Secret Thing is a remarkable collaboration of females in film and offers a unique look into the minds of teenagers," commented Amy Berg.

The trailer, website and poster became active and available on April 15, 2015, officially announcing the film's theatrical release date for May 15, 2015.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Every Secret Thing has a sterling pedigree both on and off the screen, yet all that talent adds up to little more than a listless, predictable thriller.