The little (or sometimes big) lies which even the closest friends tell each other, unable to step up to the truth about their own situations and feelings are – as the title already reveals – in the focus of the film. A group of people, who have known each other for years, spend the summer holidays in a beautiful location on the French coast, as they have done so for many years, but this time the atmosphere is tainted due to a tragic incident. Judging from their long history together, one would expect them to be very honest with each other, but as the story evolves, we realize that each of them is keeping secrets or twisting the truth a little bit in order not to expose their real fears, feelings or their relationship issues. The film is noticeably French (which isn't by any means a bad thing) – not only because the protagonists are never seen without a glass of red wine or a cigarette in their hands – because it is very heavy on dialog, with a lot of love for detail and precise observations of human behavior and it reminds you of other French films like "The Barbarian Invasions" (2003). "Little white lies" has a lot of subtle humor, an interesting plot and some surprising twists. However, the moral of the film is not necessarily new (difficult times make people appreciate each other more and show you how important friendship indeed is) and the duration (154 min) is also a bit exaggerated – half an hour less would not have hurt the story. Entertaining and worth seeing, but not a revelation.
Review of Little White Lies
