The Secret Life of Words is a 2005 Spanish-Irish drama film written and directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Javier Cámara and Julie Christie.

Hanna learns from a colleague that Josef was injured while trying to save a man who committed suicide by jumping into the oil-rig fire.

Eventually Josef confides to Hanna his greatest secret guilt, and she tells him about her previous life in the former Yugoslavia.

The voice of her daughter ends the film with the hope that Hanna will one day be able to live completely in the "now" and no longer be haunted by the past.

[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Musetto of the New York Post compared the film to Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier, stating that "Coixet's riff stands on its own thanks to thoughtful performances by Polley and Robbins".

[4] Jonathan Holland of Variety magazine praised Sarah Polley for her role "as a woman in a state of extreme isolation", adding that "[The Secret Life of] Words looks likely to make itself heard at fests and on the international arthouse circuit".