White Lie film review and discussion - Renegade Home Theater #1.5
Welcome to a very special episode of Renegade Home Theater, featuring the award-winning independent film, White Lie, which stars Kacey Rohl and Amber Anderson and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019. RPC was offered the chance to screen the film prior to its release on digital platforms on Tuesday, January 5, so Jacob, Mike, and Keona jumped at the opportunity! Here’s our review discussion of the film, which does contain SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned!
So, as a special treat for you, our fellow Renegades, here is our Captain, Mike, with his thoughts on the film, originally published on his Letterboxd page:
White Lie is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas. The film stars Kacey Rohl as Katie Arneson, a university dance major, whose falsified diagnosis and counterfeit fundraising have transformed her into a campus celebrity surrounded by the supportive community she’s always dreamed of: a close-knit group of friends, security in her academic pursuits, and a caring relationship with her girlfriend. Dependent upon a bursary for sick students to maintain her ruse, Katie learns the funding is in jeopardy unless she can provide copies of her medical records within the week. To tell you the truth, what really carries this film through to the end is Rohl's performance. I've seen her as a supporting player on TV shows such as Hannibal and Arrow, but this is the first time I've seen her as a lead, and she's incredible. The premise of the film is fascinating, it's essentially asking the audience how far they'd be willing to go to maintain a lie. Lewis and Thomas do a great job of feeding into the tension of the situation. They make it clear that Katie's emotionally unstable. One crucial scene in the first half of the film establishes the rocky relationship she has with her father, played by the great character Martin Donovan, ever since the passing of her mother. At a runtime of 96 minutes, the film moves at a very deliberate pace, gaining further momentum towards the second half. Where I really struggle is with the ending, which might have been too ambiguous for this particular narrative. Overall, I can comfortably recommend the film if you're a fan of the people both in front of and behind the camera. White Lie is available on all digital platforms on January 5th.
Well said, Cap’n. Personally, I can tell you that this movie was a revelation for me in terms of the two main performances by Kacey Rohl and Amber Anderson. I haven’t seen Rohl in Hannibal, so my only exposure to her talents has been through a smaller recurring role on Arrow, where I thought she did a great job opposite Emily Bett Rickards. Her character on that show was a far cry from her star-making role in White Lie, however, as none of the “bubbly hacker-next-door” persona can be found in Katie, who is an emotionally shattered pathological liar and borderline con artist. And yet, there are fleeting moments of humanity which briefly appear through Rohl’s acting that almost make her a sympathetic character. Indeed, you can understand why people like Anderson’s character fall for Katie’s ruse; she’s a fascinating study in how to create a complex, almost completely unlikable protagonist in a film.
Anderson, on the other hand, completely enthralls with her performance as Jennifer, Katie’s dedicated and kindhearted girlfriend. Anytime Katie needs money or help, Jennifer is there for her. She’s considerate and supportive almost to a fault, and she never questions Katie’s honesty or anything she does. Don’t get me wrong; Jennifer’s not naive. She simply believes in Katie and wishes to help her fight against her “illness.” Anderson is truly the most likable person in the film, and the only one who is worthy of our sympathy as an audience. And contrary to what Mike says about the ambiguous ending, I believe the final shot of the film definitively shows us Jennifer’s final decision regarding Katie and their relationship.
The movie is full of excellent performances, from Katie’s estranged father, Doug (played by Martin Donovan), to the corrupt doctor who ends up falsifying Katie’s medical records. Directors Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas do a remarkable job of walking a fine line with Katie, in particular, as they make her someone the audience can empathize with (in some ways) without ever losing sight of her moral bankruptcy. There are many heartbreaking moments in the film, especially Katie’s confrontation with her father and the slow-but-inevitable dissolution of Jennifer’s relationship with Katie. Lewis and Thomas never lose focus with the film, as most of the movie’s 96-minute runtime is spent with Katie, as we see the results of her attempts to maintain her “white lie” continue to grow more and more desperate with each passing day.
Overall, this was one of my personal favorite movies of the last few months, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a quiet character piece which contains brilliant performances, excellent music, stunning cinematography, and a consistent (and intense!) tone and atmosphere. I truly believe Rohl deserves a ton of accolades for her portrayal of Katie, and I can’t wait to see where she and Anderson go in their careers. Lewis and Thomas have great potential as filmmakers, as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them helming an MCU movie or two in the near future. You know Kevin Feige loves his indie directors!
A very special thanks to Rock Salt Releasing for giving us the opportunity to review and discuss this movie before it comes out on digital platforms on Tuesday, Jan. 5th! This has been a tremendous opportunity for us here at RPC and we sincerely thank them for their consideration! Please check out their website, as it looks like they have some excellent films lined up for distribution!
Until next time, Renegades, have a wonderful week and be safe and sound out there!
White Lie releases on digital platforms on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. Please support this independent film by purchasing it on DirecTV, Amazon, InDemand, iTunes, FlixFling, AT&T, Vimeo on Demand, Vudu, Fandango & Google Play!
Welcome to the first episode of the rebranded Renegade Home Theater, now known as the Renegade Marquee, our movie podcast! This time, Jacob and Keona check out Amazon’s latest production, Without Remorse, an action/thriller based on Tom Clancy’s novel and starring Michael B. Jordan! Does it live up to the Clancy adaptation pedigree set by films like The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger? Let’s find out!