"White Lie" Movie Review

On its surface, White Lie is a film about one woman’s struggle to keep up with her own lie. But on a deeper level, this film is a testament to the time we are living in now and the lengths people will go to, to survive. Kacey Rohl stars as Katie Arneson, an Ontario-based college student who has lied to her friends, family, peers and the public about having terminal cancer for the past 10 months.

White Lie opens on a straight-faced Katie, staring indifferently into her bathroom mirror as she meticulously shaves her head. The mindlessness with which Katie shaves her head in this opening scene, as if it’s just a normal day in the life of any dancer, is enough to already set the viewers on edge and set the precedent for Katie’s character: she feels no guilt at all about her ruse.

Although not many details are given as to how Katie has managed to maintain her lie for so long, we know that she depends on the kindness of strangers to support her, and especially her loving and clueless girlfriend, Jennifer (Amber Anderson). The happy, determined, strong-willed woman battling a terminal illness is the Katie that is shown to the public, while the audience is treated to a meek, immature girl desperate to blame the misfortunes of her circumstance on anyone but herself.

Katie isn’t a likable character.

Scenes of shy smiles, pleading looks and reading to a young boy are supposed to imply that Katie isn’t such a terrible person and that beneath all of her lies is just a desperate girl, eager to make a name for herself in the world. But where I would have sympathy for most whose unfortunate circumstances forced them into a life of crime, for Katie I do not. She chose to struggle through the position she put herself in, and what’s worse is that she’s asking people to pity her for it. She’s not only committing a crime, but she’s doing so by preying on the sympathies of others and exploiting their kindness.

Throughout the film we get little snippets into Katie’s life that I, personally, hoped would at least partially explain why she does what she does. But in typical indie-film fashion, White Lie ends with more questions than answers. The climax of the film involves a huge fight between Katie and her father, when he calls her out for lying and threatens to expose her. Through this fight, it is revealed that Katie pulled a similar stunt—lying about an illness—after her mother passed away when Katie was in high school. Even with this knowledge, Katie remains the villain. Viewers watch as she struggles and struggles to keep her lie a secret, each act of desperation sinking her further and further into a void that we can only assume will one day completely encompass her.

Through the theme of desperation, survival and falsified narratives, there is a real world application to this film. This past year, we have seen humanity in some of its rawest forms. We have seen how so many people in the world would rather risk the lives of thousands of others if it means getting to live their life free of restrictions. And we have seen how those in power react when they suddenly believe they are losing that power by creating a false narrative that allows them to believe they are the good guys.

Katie has created that narrative. And after such a long time, it almost feels like she believes it.

Somehow, in spite of her lack of personality, Katie has managed to surround herself with a group of insanely caring people whose generosity she not only exploits but depends upon. The only scene of victory viewers receive throughout this film is the comfort in knowing that Jennifer can no longer bear to deal with the possibility that Katie might be lying. The final scene of Jennifer walking away from Katie as she’s conducting her live radio interview to tell “her side” of her battle with cancer, feels like a small victory in a film that presents a lot of ideas without offering any conclusions.