The Lie
Parents often view it as their responsibility to protect their children, but with that the question of how far is too far immediately becomes one for debate. While on their way to a dance meeting, Jay (Peter Sarsgaard) and his teenage daughter Kayla (Joey King) pick up Kayla's friend to give her a ride. While stopped, Kayla pushes her friend from a bridge into the icy river below. As an investigation into her friend's death gains traction, Jay must come to terms with what his daughter has done and decide what to do next. Whilst The Lie might not be anywhere near the horror film that it is attempting to convince audiences that it is, its actual identity is one of a captivating drama that will put audiences on the edge of their seats as characters go back and forth.
The question at the heart of The Lie is intriguing and wonderfully framed. Though the "right" thing might be to come forth with the evidence one has, the internal struggle within Jay is completely natural and believable. Not only would going forward with the truth ruin his daughter's life, but as various details are revealed Jay is forced to explore ways he has failed as a father, which possibly could have set the path for a tragedy like this. This internal struggle might be frustrating to some who view the answer as clean cut and easy, but an equal number of audiences will be fully on the other side of the room when it comes to what Jay should do – and plenty will even find themselves in the middle fighting with their own belief systems as, Jay also does. The Lie doesn't provide an easy answer and pushes the audience to come to their own conclusion, as plenty of good cinema does.
Part of the reason it is so easy to get sucked into the moral dilemma within the film is the acting bringing it to life. Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King are utterly devastating with their emotionally charged and often tragic takes on their characters, which show the range and depth that each actor has both individually and together. Peter Sarsgaard has proven himself in the past, but this easily could be viewed as the feature breakout for Joey King, who – despite blowing audiences away with her role in Hulu's mini series The Act – has struggled to find much momentum in film, with her biggest work being playing the main character of Elle in The Kissing Booth franchise which, to put kindly, is a far throw from a tour de force performance. If there is any doubt that King can hold her own in a feature setting, The Lie looks to squash these fears and prove King as a legitimate actor – and does so in an effective matter.
Whilst the first two-thirds of the film might seemingly be setting up one of the surprise hits of the year, it is in the third act where things start to lose the plot. The emotional draw and inspired performances were enough to make up for some uneven filmmaking and slower moments for the vast majority of the runtime, but the ending clearly bites off more than it could chew. Without revealing any spoilers, the film does contain multiple twists and turns that ultimately undermine the grounded emotion that film was excelling at conjuring. The Lie has the chance to make a grand and bold statement to end on a final gut punch but chooses a cheap and annoyingly safe route to a conclusion that falls completely flat rather than being the genius catharsis that it seemingly wanted to be.
Streaming on Amazon, The Lie is still worth checking out, with a compelling story and truly fantastic lead performances. Even if the ending drops the ball and ultimately hurts the impact, the film was clearly building and, at the very least, proves that there is talent not just within its actors but also director Veena Sud, who if given the right screenplay, might just be a name to watch out for in future projects.