White Lie

I was going to watch White Lie even before I knew it was queer. The film had good critical reviews, stars someone who was on Hannibal and is a Canadian production. It already had a place in my watchlist when I read a summary mentioning the lead had a girlfriend. An unexpected delight! Most WLW movies I watch are things I wouldn’t watch if they weren’t queer. It’s a nice change to watch a movie with a narrative I was already interested that also features an unexpected queer subplot.

White Lie follows the life and lies of a university student named Katie. Katie is faking a cancer diagnosis. The film follows Katie after she has already begun lying about the diagnosis but gets deeper and deeper into her deception. Not only does Katie shave her head and present herself as sick, she also sets up fundraisers for her “cancer” though much of the money goes to maintaining the charade. Katie is estranged from her father so the most important person in her life is her girlfriend, Jennifer. Much as Katie and Jennifer’s relationship is built on lies, Katie clearly has real attachment to Jennifer. Katie tries her hardest to keep Jennifer around even once her lie starts to crumble.

It’s difficult to write a lengthy review about White Lie. The film is just an interesting premise executed competently by the writer, director and actors. This is one of those films where it’s good because everyone just showed up work and was good at their job. It’s hard to single out individual things about the film that work because it works so well as a whole. The film is so successful because it feels like a complete portrait of this character. White Lie introduces you to the premise of someone faking cancer and makes sure to answer the questions that come up about this act such as how and why. And it does this without feeling boring or overstuffed.

Kacey Rohl gives a great performance as Katie. Awful as her actions are, she’s endlessly engaging as a protagonist. She’s also fairly likeable in every aspect except the obvious fact that she’s faking cancer. She’s a character you don’t agree with but sort of root for. Once her deception starts to fall down, it’s hard not to sort of want her to find a way out of the situation. When Jennifer starts to doubt Katie is some of the best scenes of the movies. Katie’s desperation to keep Jennifer is both moving and grotesque. Seeing her lie so easily but so emotionally to a woman she clearly has feelings for makes for a really gripping scene dynamic. This all ends up with one of the worst idea marriage proposals I’ve ever seen in a movie. I kind of loved it.

White Lie is another of these more modern movies with a casual attitude towards queerness. Other than a throwaway, dismissive comment by her father, Katie’s interest in women is never challenged nor the forefront of her identity. Katie’s love interest could have been male and nothing in the story would have changed at all. I’m always a big fan of this. While there’s numerous scenes of Katie and her girlfriend, their actual identity as queer women is a given and not something the film needs to focus on. There’s more pressing issues like faking a cancer diagnosis.

My one critique yet biggest compliment of White Lie is that it’s the rare movie I thought could have been longer. Katie’s story isn’t done by the time the credits roll and I’d really like to see what happens next. Also , I saw it on a plane so I had a lot of time to kill. If you happen to be flying through Canada, ignore the superhero movies offered and check the Canadian movies section to see if White Lie is available. This is a solid, gripping drama with no bells or whistles, just solid writing, directing and acting.

Overall rating: 8.2/10

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