Metacritic reviews

Sud – with plenty of inexorable tracking shots through the family’s chilly condo – efficiently tightens the screw as the twitchy mother and indulgent father first bicker, then are doomed together by their blood allegiances.

Playing off intense, uncomfortably tight close-ups where the actors show off finely tuned displays of flickering emotions with long shots that emphasize the plush interiors and tidy suburban gardens that surround them, Sud ratchets up the tension expertly.

At the heart of Veena Sud’s film is the raw material for a potentially ingenious satirical domestic thriller.

A watchable tale of parental dread, propelled by a strong conceit and sustained tension — but let down by its outlandish twist.

The Lie probably could’ve worked in a shorter form – a half-hour episode of a TV show, perhaps.

Very little about this movie works, in spite of a certain ambition in telling a story based solely on unfathomable decisions.

Even at the attractive price of “free,” it’s not worth it because watching it requires 97 minutes and that’s not time well spent.

Eventually you can’t help but unironically wonder if Sud intended to make a comedy because the mood swings and incredulity only become more and more unbelievable.

Sud’s film is a master class in bad decision-making, improbable choices, and overwrought acting.

This is a whiffed effort at an all too familiar subgenre: the ostensibly dark, searing human drama undercut by the fact that all the humans in it are boorish idiots.