Even the film is a lie…
The Big Picture
- Director Veena Sud’s film,
The Lie
, features a twisted web of lies amid a chilling atmosphere. - The film delves into deception and psychopathy, posing a nuanced question about the characters’ motives.
- Despite logical flaws,
The Lie
creates a thrilling atmosphere and delivers a powerful, unexpected final twist.
Critically panned, director Veena Sud‘s The Lie constructs a tangled web of lies that lacks credibility and forms the basis of the most inane decisions showcased in a film. However, between the chilling atmosphere and the nuanced acting, this Blumhouse thriller is still worth another look. Marketing itself as a horror, there is only one real horrific moment in the dire, sardonic twist of the finale, while the meat of the film edges towards a thriller.
Although The Lie doesn’t hit its primary theme of “how far parents will go to protect their children” considering the succession of horrible decisions the privileged family makes, it does slightly delve into the realm of “are they all psychopaths?” As such, not only does The Lie feature ample forms of deception, but the film itself deceives us through its proclaimed genre and primary thematic concern. Whether or not this was on purpose or simply a happy accident combined with the stellar acting and the visual aesthetic, discovering this elevates how the film is perceived and makes it that much more captivating.
The Lie
A father and daughter are on their way to dance camp when they spot the girl’s best friend on the side of the road. When they stop to offer the friend a ride, their good intentions soon result in terrible consequences.
- Release Date
- October 6, 2018
- Director
- Veena Sud
- Cast
- Peter Sarsgaard , Joey King , Cas Anvar , Danielle Kind , Mireille Enos , Devery Jacobs
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Writers
- Sebastian Ko , Markus Seibert , Veena Sud
- Tagline
- It was an accident
What Is ‘The Lie’ About?
The Lie follows the story of a divorced couple trying to cover up the either murderous or accidental horrific actions of their daughter. On the way to dance camp, Kayla (Joey King) convinces her father, Jay (Peter Sarsgaard) to pick up her best friend Brittany (Devery Jacobs) from the side of the road. At a brief pitstop near a bridge, disaster strikes as Kayla accidentally (or purposefully) pushes Brittany into the icy depths of the river. Instead of calling the police or spending any length of time trying to find Brittany, Jay immediately grabs Kayla and runs away, resulting in the first mistake that makes both of them complicit in her missing person’s case and catalyzes a string of lies to cover up the crime.
Kayla’s mother and Jay’s ex-wife Rebecca (Mireille Enos) are unwillingly roped into the crime and end up taking the most proactive position by spearheading a campaign against Brittany’s father (Cas Anvar). As a white, upper-middle class family, shifting the blame to a person of color and a single dad by using domestic abuse as a weapon is wholly distasteful and malicious, but it is also one of the few lies that is unnervingly realistic. In a nightmarish scenario like that, he is reduced to the easy target. From faux doctor’s appointments to burying a cracked phone, the deceptions kept compounding until it culminates in the death of Brittany’s father via a very frustrated Rebecca behind a wheel. But that intense scene pales compared to the gut-punch in the finale.
Joey King Is a Psychopath in ‘The Lie’
While the plot is inundated with unnecessary lies, the nuanced acting of the cast relieves us of redundancy. In particular, King steals the show as she flits between distraught and petulant, completely nailing the role of an infuriatingly immature teenager. It is reminiscent of her breakthrough role in The Kissing Booth, as she makes childish decisions and rebukes the consequences, but it is mixed with a healthy dose of psychopathy. Between her muted distress as she seemingly digests her actions and her nonchalance in watching television after allegedly murdering her friend, her conflicting sides are equally unsettling and frustrating. This is especially present in her later breakdown where she writhes on the ground claiming she is a terrible person just to distract her parents from their argument. King’s powerful performance that makes Kayla loathsome, yet human helps with the credibility of the ultimate deception.
Meanwhile, Sarsgaard and Enos also flit between humane and sociopathic, although in a more subtle way. While Enos plays a role with more agency as Rebecca uses her connections and reputation to get ahead of the cover-up, Sarsgaard goes into bystander mode as he simply witnesses and slightly goads events into taking place. Torment and fear are etched into both of their expressions at every point of the film, yet they steadily stride forward into ther tangled lies. Despite every argument and every expression of guilt, there’s an underlying sense of resolution in their plan. It’s this disconcerting disconnect between their emotions and their decisions that makes them terribly human yet also slightly sociopathic.
As such, while the nonsensical decisions that were made undermine the seemingly overarching theme of parents going to extreme lengths to protect their child, the characters themselves offer an intriguing question of whether they are psychopaths or not. It’s as if they are not only deceiving the characters in the film, but are trying to deceive us as well. Are they parents that have been twisted under extraordinary circumstances, or is this just a catalyst that is activating some bizarre hereditary psychopathic gene in the family? It is only in the finale that this question truly comes into fruition.
‘The Lie’ Creates a Thrilling Atmosphere
Although there are moments in The Lie that pull us out of the film and make us question the logic of the decisions made, the electrifying tension draws us right back in. Featuring snowy sets and eerily empty suburbs, the cold hues of the scenes makes us feel as hopeless as the panicked family does. This is especially contrasted with the warmer scenes of Rebecca and Jay bonding, deftly positioning us in Kayla’s perspective and foreshadowing her motivations in the final revelation. This coldness combined with the jarring dissonance of the quiet and the loud scenes makes us feel like we’re walking on eggshells alongside the parents.
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Even the glacial pacing of the narrative, which is generally considered a flaw, works in this film. By slowing down, The Lie hones into the characters’ emotions, which is only possible with a captivating cast. From the fear, worry and concern for the daughter’s future to the tantalizing grief evoked as the child in the opening credits dies on the bridge, each sudden outburst amplifies the tense atmosphere while also creating impatience. As we wade our way through the pools of emotional intensity, we are constantly anticipating the collapse of the web of lies, making the horrifying gut-punch of the final revelation all the more powerful.
‘The Lie’s Final Plot Twist Is Powerful
Although the final plot twist of The Lie is often ridiculed, the power of having such an outrageous lie is that we also feel the knife plunge into the parents’ gut as they discover the truth. If you haven’t watched the film yet, go watch it now and come back for this jaw-dropping ending. If you have, you know the feeling of your stomach dropping when you find out that, just like Kayla’s parents, we have endured every ridiculous deception for nothing? Turns out the titular lie was not “it never happened, we were never there,” but is “it never happened.” The stark contrast between the bloody murder of Brittany’s father and Brittany waltzing through the door while explaining she had been with her boyfriend in a non-committal tone, completely renders everyone speechless and outraged. It seems like such a gimmicky ending, but the moments afterward completely flip the script.
After Jay and Rebecca confront Kayla, she reveals that she committed to the lie because she enjoyed spending time with two parents who worked together again. As the lights and sirens of the police engulf them through the window, the three experience a uniquely intimate moment of compassion and empathy while knowing they are doomed to imprisonment. There is also a deft reversal of roles. We initially believed Kayla had committed murder, thus making her actions afterward seem psychopathic, but now that we know it was entirely manipulation, she seems more sociopathic. On the other hand, Jay and Rebecca started off sociopathic due to their disconnect, but now they lean towards psychopathy as they finally connect with their daughter after a murder (not to mention their lack of self-preservation at that moment). This ending circles back to the aforementioned question raised: are they now a trauma-bonded family or a newly damaged one?
As a part of the “Welcome to Blumhouse” series of eight films in 2020 and 2021, The Lie was included in the former four movies that explored “family and love as redemptive or destructive.” Released alongside Osei-Kudffour Jr‘s Black Box, The Lie gives us the hope that Jason Blum will occasionally venture into the realm of quiet thrillers. While it doesn’t do what it seemingly set out to do, the film succeeds in dynamic characters, a tense viewing experience and an unexpected theme of psychopathy, essentially making itself the final deception.
The Lie is available to watch now on Prime Video in the U.S.
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO
This article was originally published on collider.com