Lies We Tell (2017)

Directed by: Mitu Misra | 109 minutes | crime, romance | Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Sibylla Deen, Mark Addy, Jan Uddin, Reece Ritchie, Gina McKee, Nicholas Farrell, Emily Atack, Harish Patel, Harvey Keitel, Danica Johnson, Manzar Sehbai, Harvey Virdi, Hamish Rush, Aqib Khan, Ambur Khan, Amer Nazir

Gabriel Byrne is a special actor. The Irishman is one of those actors who never really seems to star in a movie. He always puts himself in the service of others and seems to feel better more in the shelter. In ‘Hereditary’ it worked very well when he had to play a mentally absent father, but when he has to play a lead role and carry a movie, that obliging attitude doesn’t work. In ‘Lies We Tell’ Byrne has to carry the film, but he fails to do so.

Donald (Byrne) is an honest driver. When his boss, billionaire Demi, dies unexpectedly, Donald tries to destroy all evidence of his extramarital affairs with a Muslim woman to protect the family’s legacy. However, he doesn’t count on bumping into the lady of the house, the beautiful Amber. Despite trying to keep her at bay, he must help her find and destroy a sex video of his boss. He plunges into the dark underworld that leads him to Amber’s cousin, the notorious mobster KD.

‘Lies We Tell’ has a lot of interesting themes. The Muslim woman who is looked down upon by her community because of her extramarital affair, a driver who ends up in a hostile world and cannot keep herself standing and an impressive cast: just a few big plus points for this film. Unfortunately, little is done about these things. In addition, the excessive use of music is very annoying. The movie dictates your emotions or tries to do so.

The big announced Harvey Keitel is prominently featured on the DVD cover, but after a mini-dialogue, he is missing again. Byrne is downright dull and the slow pace doesn’t make it any better. ‘Lies We Tell’ is a mediocre film with a swaying course and a crew that gets seasick. Do not enter the boat and you will save an entrance ticket.