Musivision Films

Review Lies We Tell written by Laurie Gordon

Gabriel Byrne delivers

First time director Misu Misra’s  Lies We Tell debut feature is an offering  of great acting, a strong story and a stealth performance by Gabriel Byrne and the entire cast. Byrne delivers a sensitive and powerful performance with an intensity and gritty authenticity. Byrne plays Donald and Amber acted by newcomer Sybilla Deen have a palpable chemistry with great performances all round.

 Misra takes aim at a current and serious issue with the theme of  arranged Muslim marriage. His empathetic sensitive approach and direction is subtle without taking sides or making a deliberate statement nor taking a stance either way. Lies We Tell gives various perspectives with excellent performances by Sybilla Deen and the role of her father played by Menzar Sebai and his wife Banu played by Harvey Virdi.  A  powerful cast.

The story revolves around Demi’s [Harvey Keitel] post mortem request to his loyal chauffeur Donald requiring the driver to hide or destroy evidence of Demi’s passionate affair with his Muslim mistress Amber. A life-and-death battle and showdown with Amber’s notorious gangster cousin/ex-husband KD [Jam Uddin] ensues where gangs, prostitution and a severe clash of values and ethics is forefront at all times.

 A tug of war between traditional family morals and efforts to stay true to their Pakistani culture and Muslim faith and Amber’s will to live as a free woman in the UK is what propels Lies We Tell forward. The film sustains the viewer’s interest from beginning until the end. Lies We Tell is a compelling story with pertinent ongoing ramifications in the real world where for example a family in Montreal Canada three women of the same family were killed for this very reason in 2009. There is a tragedy in the failure to intervene before such murders occur, and vulnerable groups from immigrant communities need the most protection but rarely get it.

Lies We Tell is not a fairy tale but a depiction of ongoing real life situations where family will and ego are killing women for the sake of traditional ends in so called “honour killings”.

 Demi’s post mortem directives to his ever faithful driver gets Demi caught up in an impossible and often violent scenario. Amber is pulled between traditional family values and is forced to save herself and compelled to save her younger sister Miriam [from the unrelenting will of her family.  Amber’s violent dejected gangster cousin to whom Amber is to be wed in an arranged marriage is now being promised to her younger sister Miriam played by Danica Johnson.

A conflict of life and death ensues with gangs, prostitution and killers who pursue Amber and Donald while she fights for her freedom and that of her beloved baby sister. Protecting Miriam to whom the family has now agreed to marry off to cousin KD in Amber’s place raises the stakes as the tension grows and the intensity ignites a clash of wills where no side readily gives up.

The family attempts to control the future of their daughters as they insist on keeping the promise of this arranged marriage now committed to Miriam.  Amber tows a dangerous line as she attempts to escape the often violent antics of her cousin KD  in the name of traditional values of which she cannot abide.

The dynamic between father and daughter results in a subtle twist giving an insightful angle into contemporary worlds where traditional culture and values clash and collide.

Lies We Tell may not be a ground breaking cinematic experience but is an important film to watch for it’s strong script, solid cast and production value. Ultimately  Lies We Tell is important for it’s narrative which remains relevant in todays’  intersecting cultures in a world which only gets smaller.