Where She Lies stands out to me among family mystery stories for its main subject matter, Peggy Phillips. Peggy's on the search for her daughter who she's come to believe is still alive, even after being told in the delivery room that she'd passed. It's framed in the beginning as a "puzzle", but it wasn't until after thinking about this movie awhile after finishing it that I realized the filmmakers gave us a clue as to what this movie is really about: not so much the missing daughter, but Peggy herself.
Peggy mentions in the beginning how she'd cut puzzle pieces to make them fit when she couldn't find the right ones. I thought this was a clever opening, never really understanding how crucial it'd be to the overall story of this film. It's got all the intriguing twists and turns of a documentary of this nature, but at each one it's Peggy cutting the piece to make it fit.
It's a very timely film, in that it explores Peggy with a very close lens at a moment in history when some legitimately believe there are powerful people selling and cooking babies to eat. Peggy is nowhere close to this level of crazy, though it's clear by the end that she's spent so much time lying to herself that she came to believe her own truth. The filmmaker's sister sums it up very succinctly: when faced with trauma or pain, humans will do what it takes to run from it, whether physical or emotional. They will, essentially, cut their own pieces to make them fit.
The lead-up may not take viewers to a place they expect or hope for, but that's usually the case with truth. It's never as tied up with a bow as we'd hope; or, in Peggy's case, a fully-completed puzzle. As a story of a mother's search for truth about her daughter, it might make a good 15-minute read on the bus. But Where She Lies is so much more than that by the end. It's made me really think about the human need for structure, for answers, and for hope. Peggy never got to see her baby after she was pronounced dead, so she did what any of us would've: she held on to the hope that they'd be reunited one day. And even when she didn't get the answer she'd hoped for after nearly 60 years, she still didn't quite let go.
I applaud the filmmakers for truly showing compassion for Peggy, even when it was clear the story they went after morphed into something completely different. I thought every component of this independently-produced documentary was well-done, from the music to the inserts and the overall presentation of the interviews. Here's hoping this movie gets the spotlight it deserves, and that others can connect with Peggy and her very personal, tragic story and use it for some introspection later.
Peggy mentions in the beginning how she'd cut puzzle pieces to make them fit when she couldn't find the right ones. I thought this was a clever opening, never really understanding how crucial it'd be to the overall story of this film. It's got all the intriguing twists and turns of a documentary of this nature, but at each one it's Peggy cutting the piece to make it fit.
It's a very timely film, in that it explores Peggy with a very close lens at a moment in history when some legitimately believe there are powerful people selling and cooking babies to eat. Peggy is nowhere close to this level of crazy, though it's clear by the end that she's spent so much time lying to herself that she came to believe her own truth. The filmmaker's sister sums it up very succinctly: when faced with trauma or pain, humans will do what it takes to run from it, whether physical or emotional. They will, essentially, cut their own pieces to make them fit.
The lead-up may not take viewers to a place they expect or hope for, but that's usually the case with truth. It's never as tied up with a bow as we'd hope; or, in Peggy's case, a fully-completed puzzle. As a story of a mother's search for truth about her daughter, it might make a good 15-minute read on the bus. But Where She Lies is so much more than that by the end. It's made me really think about the human need for structure, for answers, and for hope. Peggy never got to see her baby after she was pronounced dead, so she did what any of us would've: she held on to the hope that they'd be reunited one day. And even when she didn't get the answer she'd hoped for after nearly 60 years, she still didn't quite let go.
I applaud the filmmakers for truly showing compassion for Peggy, even when it was clear the story they went after morphed into something completely different. I thought every component of this independently-produced documentary was well-done, from the music to the inserts and the overall presentation of the interviews. Here's hoping this movie gets the spotlight it deserves, and that others can connect with Peggy and her very personal, tragic story and use it for some introspection later.
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