The Lie - A Movie Review

Let this be a lesson to never tell lies.

The Lie is a 2018 film. Along the road to a dance camp, Kayla sees her friend along the road. Asking her dad to pull over, an awful event happens. Making the worst decision to lie and cover up evidence, the family suffers consequences.

If anything, this movie teaches viewers never to tell a lie. Exploring every negative outlook there is to lying, The Lie is both a stressful and dumb film. The story being the weakest element, it's the actors who save the film.

Joey King is a splendid actress, particularly when she was a kid. In The Lie, King exhibits a dark persona. I just kept shaking my head at all of Kayla’s poor decisions. Without giving too much away (and most obviously) everything could have been avoided if Kayla told the truth.

Thankfully, the acting saves this film. Expressing several difficult emotions about the stressful circumstance their daughter has put them in, Peter Sarsgaard and Mireille Enos were great. Parenting is not easy. During this time, a difficult relationship is put to the test.

All in all, that was my favorite aspect of this film. Divorce is a theme. Divorce hits families differently. Some viewers may find it relatable, but it gets lost with the erratic terrible decision-making.

Actors developed genuine reactions and behaviors. Aside from Kayla’s character (oh yes, and Britney (Devery Jacobs), none of the characters are unrealistic. If they didn’t take the film seriously, I don’t know what this film would have been like. By developing the right tension, you feel the stress.

This whole film feels like it was written by teenagers. The premise is ridiculous right from the start. The story lacked logistics. The main conflict is so unrealistic. Nobody made any good choices. Really, this whole conflict could have been avoided if Kayla’s friend had a different resolution in mind.

With how dumb the story was, that does not mean the film isn’t entertaining. It’s not just the teenager who makes the stupidest decisions. The parents actually go through with everything they do to cover up their daughter's lie! Long before everything got out of control, they should have confronted their daughter and gone to the police.

Okay, the parents lie to the police. They try to cover up evidence (which is not really evidence because the situation goes over their heads). And Kayla keeps the lie going by screaming at her parents for what they’ve done. What have they done??

Nothing in The Lie made sense. Which could be on a purpose. When lies get out of hand, they don’t make sense anymore.

Veena Sud’s main direction went to his actors who were all excellent. It’s the story and direction that deserved another edit. I wasn’t sure whether to take the film seriously once the twist was revealed. I did gasp though. The film is slow, including way too many stupid decisions. I’m just going to call the film a dark comedy whether it was the intention or not.

If anything, The Lie is an example to families of what not to do in situations presented in the film. Do not follow any of the decisions made by this family. It’s more laughable the second time around.

I won’t lie, I wouldn’t recommend The Lie. In my honest opinion, the only reason why I’d tell anyone to watch this film is for the acting and hilarious cringy moments. Or if you like watching people doing stupid things, then The Lie is the film for you.