The Lie

Comprising small, near-perfect scenes played out largely at dinner tables and on couches, The Lie wonders if it's possible to rewrite lives and remake choices.

The Lie's payoff strikes an unexpected, refreshingly open note that makes this slight little indie more resonant than its scale suggests. The line this couple is about to cross is significant, and the film takes it seriously.

Embedded in The Lie is a sharp look at the moral limbo of a complacent life, the self-defeat of committing by halves, the self-interest of false equivalencies - but only the shallowest attempts are made to chip its themes out.

It doesn't try too hard, but what The Lie is working at, in its unassuming, amusing way, is a mini-portrait of growing pains in a time of extended adolescence. The truth is, that kind of thing is never easy, no matter what age.

Likeably shaggy, it has arthouse appeal and a winning cast.

Thinly amusing tale with not-especially-appealing characters.

It's hard to say which is worse: the unfunny caricatures or the indulgent soul-searching.