Lies I Told My Little Sister (2014)

Simply A Masterpiece

Sick Product of a Sick System

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Traditional storytelling with a lot of believable characters, realistic dialogue and outstanding acting, tackling subjects of death in the family and leftover childhood sisters stuff, with a deft touch infused with humor. Walks a fine line between drama and comedy and by and large pulls it off well. Beautifully edited. As with most of us, if you have experienced a loss in the family and/or were teased mercilessly as a kid by your older sibling (or did the teasing), you will get this movie instantly. Doesn't really matter if you are female or male, because this is something nearly everyone can relate to, though macho guys with no patience for women-led films will miss the point entirely. Moves along very well with a nice payoff. Soap star Alicia Minshew has a featured cameo as the sister who dies from cancer (this is not a spoiler; it happens immediately and triggers the plot of a family trip to Cape Cod where they're all trying to recover; you see Minshew thenceforth in flashbacks). The shining star however is actress Lucy Walters in her first lead (best known in as the sexy subway girl in Shame opposite Michael Fassbender and now in the Starz drama series Power), and she is truly spectacular as the middle sister who is grieving her favorite sister and trying to deal, often badly, with the younger sister she is left with. The beautifully written part of the family's mother is unusually good for an older actress, and Ellen Foley (Cocktail, Night Court, etc) in the role hits it way out of the park with enormous nuance, wit, regret and remoteness. Worth a look.

Outstanding actors and believable complex characters, set on beautiful Cape Cod, and a great mix of drama and comedy make this little indie a gem. After the death of the favorite of three sisters, the other two siblings go with the rest of the extended family on a trip to try to recover, but end up also having to deal with all their childhood baggage. At times laugh out loud funny and other times heart-wrenching, just like life itself. Lucy Walters (Shame, Power) is extraordinary and magnetic as the lead, and Ellen Foley as the sisters' mother in an absolutely stellar performance. Relationships are tough even in the best of times, but you come away feeling uplifted, and you'll keep chuckling over the porn magazine. Saw this at a film festival where it deservedly took the Best of the Festival award.