Secretary is a 2002 American erotic romantic comedy-drama film directed by Steven Shainberg from a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the 1988 short story of the same name by Mary Gaitskill. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader, the film explores the intense relationship between a dominant lawyer and his submissive secretary, who indulge in various types of BDSM activities such as erotic spanking and petplay.