White Lie

Absolutely loved this movie, good and plausible storyline, with great acting

There's so much out there masquerading as "film" or "TV" these days that it's refreshing to witness the great talent of Canadian filmmakers like Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas...even if it's on the small screen. They both have a keen knack for storytelling and their cinematic intuition right on the money. WHITE LIE does a great job of upping the ante every step of the way. The tension keeps building to a point where you're wondering what will finally happen to Katie? This is a simple but engaging story that really speaks to this generation's social turmoil. I really enjoyed this a lot. It's certainly worth watching, especially if you're a cinephile.

Mark Twain once said, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." The truth may hurt, and it may not be as glamorous as a lie, but at least it's honest. And the truth will keep us out of more trouble than we already find ourselves in. By the time we meet our protagonist, Katie (Kacie Rohl), she is well past that point. As the camera zooms in, we see her shaving her head. In the next scene, Katie is participating in a fundraiser for her cancer treatments. The audience still is not completely knowledgeable about whether she actually has cancer or not. But the thought has already been planted that perhaps she is not quite telling the truth. Within the first five minutes, the basic plot structure has been set in place. Katie is a college student and dancer who is faking cancer to raise money. The next hour and a half, we follow Katie as she goes from one meeting to another trying to keep her lie from imploding. The audience sees the depths she is willing to go through to continue her façade. Katie is in over her head and does not know how to come back from the trap that she finds herself in. One does question whether she wants to come back. The audience is left wondering if she likes the game. The movie is unsettling, as we watch Katie use and manipulate many people in her life to maintain her lie. The question that lingers as the viewer watches her twist her way out of each predicament, is whether it's worth it. What would happen if she just came clean? Katie is constantly having to remember details of what she has said and what she is doing. The audience is left with a feeling of exhaustion at her desperation. We really want to see her lie be found out. If nothing else just for relief. The filmmaking is well done with great camera shots and fantastic dialogue. Kacey Rohl's performance as Katie, is subtle and yet she can portray a character that the viewer pities.

The best cinema always gets you thinking and if a film ever had the power to do that you've just found it. How you scale and share your empathy between cause and effect might reveal a lot about the way you perceive the world around you. On the one hand - she'll get what's coming to her, deceitful so and so and, on the other, what has happened to cause this young woman to behave this way. Either way, whatever your bias, I think you'll find it hard to ignore that at the centre of this is an outstanding and convincing performance from Kacey Rohl.

Newb producers, writers and directors Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas put together a gem of a film, where one's self-interest combined with sociological expectations and acceptance, blur into paranoid toxicity of constant lies that tear apart lovers, friends and families. Kacey Rohl was amazing in her role, and her facial expressions added more anxiety and tension than the lies themselves. Cinematography was perfect, and the score on point. The 96 minute runtime felt longer with the slow pacing and continuity issues in the writing. But even still, the constant anxiety you will have watching this film, is a testament to the excellent film-making put together by newbs Lewis and Thomas. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.