The Good Lie

A group of young people who lost their families in Sudan's civil war and spent years in a refugee camp are resettled in America. An employment counsellor ends up looking after them. The film gives its first half to Sudan, and that is its strongest part: the walk, the camp, one brother left behind. The American section drifts towards culture-clash comedy and the weight drops. Philippe Falardeau directed. Several of the leads came from Sudan themselves, some playing roles close to their own histories. Before watching: it was marketed on Reese Witherspoon, but the film is essentially the story of those young men. Come with that expectation and you will have watched the wrong film.