Movie Review: "White Lie" (2021)
White Lie Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by Rock Salt Releasing
Written and Directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas
2021, 96 minutes, Not Rated
Released on January 5th, 2021
Starring:
Kacey Rohl as Katie Arneson
Amber Anderson as Jennifer Ellis
Martin Donovan as Doug Arneson
Thomas Olajide as Jabari Jordan
Connor Jessup as Owen
Darrin Baker as Dr. Becker
Review:
In the name of coming out of the gate at full speed, the first damn review of 2021 is for a movie about a piece of shit who’s faking cancer for the attention and the money. I didn’t plan it this way, mind you, but I’m certainly not complaining about White Lie as the leadoff hitter. 2020 was already pretty freaking uncomfortable for everyone; let’s go for more discomfort.
Getting all those fake medical records is a real pain in the ass, eh?
Katie Arneson (Kacey Rohl; CW’s Arrow) is a student living a lie. She’s the face of the school’s fight against cancer, but there’s one problem- Katie is a total fake. She’s had a rough few years full of personal tragedy, and she’s sustaining herself with the love, well wishes, and donations of others. Katie dodges exposure after exposure while trying to maintain a loving relationship with her girlfriend, Jennifer (Amber Anderson; Emma.). That charade ends when her father, Doug (Martin Donovan; Weeds), is unfooled by her scam and exposes her to the online community that adores her. Trying to hold together the unraveling ball of lies her life has become will prove to be her biggest challenge, but Katie is coming to learn what it really means to truly become someone else. Will she embrace the change?
White Lie is one of those films that will instantly challenge you with a character who is fortunately anything but an archetype and then turn up the discomfort and tension level until it’s practically humming in your nerves. Katie is indeed a piece of shit who’s also quite damaged. Her con isn’t a con at all- it’s her identity, and she is protecting it at all costs. To that end, Kacey Rohl is a marvel of facial nuance, believable on-your-toes survival instincts, and grim determination. Her performance is the anchor of the film in a way that far exceeds the story’s natural dependence on her character through the structure. Equal parts vulnerable and aggressively manipulative, she’s a character that will be all too familiar to anyone who knows a true junkie (and don’t we all at this point?).
Katie’s drug of choice is attention and acceptance. Junkies don’t always need a needle or a pipe, after all.
The film itself maintains a somber tone that sets the stakes high from the opening frames of Katie solemnly shaving her head before looking at herself with something like satisfaction. You know you’re dealing with a woman on a mission. You’ll be uncomfortable at the start and unbelievably anxious by the end. Katie’s journey of near fall after near fall keeps you locked onto the screen with a clever score and the patience to make you wonder just how much farther she can really take it.
Martin Donovan, Connor Jessup, and Thomas Olajide headline a superb supporting cast that turn in wonderful work as the various agents of Katie’s deception in roles that are cleverly written and more than a bit symbolic. There is a moral at play if you care to dig deeper, or you can take White Lie as an excellent psychological thriller of a different color altogether; one where the stakes are more personal than legal but no less dangerous.
Either way, you won’t be forgetting Kacey Rohl’s performance or the hideously uncomfortable way this one unfolds. And that ending? Well, you can draw your own conclusions on how little her white lie actually is.
Grade:
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
