The Lie

This movie definitely deserved a much higher rating than all those godawful quick-and-cheap movies being churned out by the dozens. I thought the story was intriguing and kept me engaged throughout, the twist at the end was also well done, the photography was high quality. People who hated this film should stick to their freaking reality tv shows and shut up.

I find it hard to rate a movie when the first ~90% of the film is excellent, well-acted and extremely watchable. I also get very angry when so much effort is made to produce a great film only to ruin it with an ending that's so far-fetched that it feels a troll wrote it.

I was drawn to this film because the premise looked good and one of the leads was Mireille Enos (who I absolutely adore: have seen her work in 'The Killing', 'Hanna', 'Good Omens' and 'World War Z').

Enos, Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King were brilliant and compelling in their performances. The first ~90% of the film was easily an 8 rating. The atrocious ending which lasted (if I recall) about 10 minutes was a 1 rating. The final actions of the daughter were inline with the plot. I didn't have an issue with this and I think most viewers would agree when they really think about it. The entire premise is built around the choices a teen makes...

It is the actions of the parents during the final minutes that leave you questioning the worth of this film.

Should you watch this? I think yes (though my overall rating is a 5 but the first 90% of the film is an 8). The drama is superb, Enos & Sarsgaard were incredible, and out of a 90 minute film - I'm certain you'll love (and be glued into) the first 80 minutes of it. Just be prepared for the crash and burn landing.

The inciting incident is dealt with pure and utter stupidity. Even the Lawyer character is dumb, so dumb, maybe the dumbest. When is a sociopath NOT a sociopath? When they are a stupid 15 year old. A crime drama with No Crime, until the last 7 minutes of the film. The 2 daughter characters are 15 year old morons. The ending is staggeringly stupid, and contrived. Did no one but the writer read this script before they began shooting? Or funding?

Fairly tense drama/thriller not really horror even though it's found in the horror section on Amazon. Joey King, Mireille Enos and Peter Sarsgaard are all excellent at least most the time. A great cover up story not what I expected it to be! Plays out really well for what it is!

I hope the title of the review helps others like me, who go into this expecting a Blumhouse movie released in conjunction with Prime a few weeks before Halloween, to be a scary movie. Now that's put this aside

The cast do their best with this ridiculous plot, that would borderline work as a poor 25 minute episode of Inside Number 9

The writing is pretty dreadful, the direction bland and lacking much in the way of thrills The movie is glacier paced, without the script or character development to hold it up Someone needs to go back to film school - It's so bad the you will see the ending coming within minutes of the incident itself There's no attempt to even throw the viewer in the other direction

I would recommend watching the first 10 mins, then mins 58 to 60, and the last 5 minute and save yourself a precious evening you could be spending on something much more worthwhile