Trailers
EN
Teaser
Description
A young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the United States with three other lost boys. Encountering the modern world for the first time, they develop an unlikely friendship with a brash American woman assigned to help them, but the young man struggles to adjust to this new life and his feelings of guilt about the brother he left behind.
Starring
Awards
Key opinion
The Good Lie is generally praised as a sincere and emotionally resonant drama that effectively avoids 'white savior' tropes by centering on the experiences of the Sudanese 'Lost Boys.' While many viewers find the film’s message of brotherhood and resilience deeply moving, opinions are divided on the transition from the harrowing African opening to the more conventional American resettlement story.
| Screenplay | The film succeeds in avoiding 'white savior' narratives, focusing instead on the authentic collective strength and experiences of the Sudanese refugees. | |
| Acting | The casting of actors with lived experience of civil war trauma provides a raw, authentic emotional core to the performances. | |
| Direction | Philippe Falardeau employs a semi-documentary visual style that effectively grounds the harrowing early sequences in realism. | |
| Humor | The film utilizes humor to balance heavy subject matter, though some viewers find its integration uneven or ineffective in the American sequences. | |
| Pacing | The shift from the survival-focused first half to the American social-integration second half creates a tonal disconnect for some, with the latter portion feeling overly sentimental or purposeless. |