White Lie

This 2019 Canadian film, co-directed by Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas, follows a university student faking cancer. Katie, a dance major, has become a kind of campus celebrity through her invented diagnosis and counterfeit fundraising, surrounded by the supportive community she always wanted. But she now depends on a bursary for sick students and has to produce medical documents to keep the story going. The film's courage is in refusing either to explain Katie or to have her forgiven. The directors give no clue about her psychology; they only show the labour required to keep the lie standing, and that labour resembles the exhaustion of a real illness. Kacey Rohl's performance both pushes the viewer away and holds them. Who it's for: viewers who like Canadian independent cinema and morally uncomfortable character portraits. Who it's not for: anyone who needs to sympathise with the protagonist, or who wants explanation and resolution.