Film Review: MILLIE LIES LOW: Story Ending Goes Flat After Karma Goes Haywire [SXSW 2022]

Millie Lies Low Review

Millie Lies Low (2021) Film Review from the 29th Annual South by Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Michelle Savill, written by Michelle Savill and Eli Kent, and starring Ana Scotney, Rachel House, Sam Cotton, Jillian Nguyen, and Chris Alosio.

No one can fully anticipate how they might react in the face of new stressors. No more than Millie could when she boarded a flight to New York City. She panicked to the point of having to disembark, leaving her coveted internship hanging in the balance. Later, she finds that re-booking a flight costs about as much as a decent used car.

From this point, Millie decides on the ruse that she made the flight as she tries to scrape up the cash. This decision is not entirely out of left field, though; it’s a matter of personal pride. Landing the internship has made her into something of a hometown hero with the publicity that goes with it. It’s natural enough that she would like to avoid looking less than a hero if it can be managed. As for the moment, a little dissembling doesn’t seem like a bad plan.

But things go wrong right from the start. Eventually living in a leaky tent in a park, she fakes phone calls from New York and concocts elaborate videos of her adventures using props in alleyways. She sneaks into her mother’s home for food and catnaps. As things go from bad to worse, Millie’s grim determination may have the audience scratching its collective head. Why continue risking all the pitfalls and myriad of lies when the simple truth would fit better?

It takes a while for one to realize that karma of some kind must be in play, the inciting nugget of which one doesn’t realize until nearly the end, though the more astute among us might pick up some clues. Meanwhile, we are left with the task of watching Millie implode under the weight of a convoluted string of events, each ending in disaster.

Not that there isn’t evidence of enormous talent behind Millie’s self-inflicted tale of woe. Michelle Savill and her co-writer Eli Kent have concocted some remarkably clever, funny, and sometimes cruel paybacks. The dialog itself is lean and flows naturally, leaving room for the actors’ emotional expression.

None of her schemes ever goes right, but she manages to avoid discovery just in the nick of time — until the final one, when Millie’s cover is blown: She sneaks into her boyfriend’s home to steal his passport, but hides in his closet when he returns with her best friend, and they start having sex. She lets loose a full bladder, which runs from the closet and forms a puddle at his feet. He opens the closet to find Millie glaring at him. The puzzled couple watch as she storms out. This is one of the best scenes in the film, in terms of converging plot and themes.

But then, in the next scene, the momentum drains out of the film. Sitting together, Millie listens to the sheepish apologies from her (ex?) boyfriend and best buddy, their heads bowed in shame. Though Millie herself does have plenty to answer for, she appears to get off pretty easy. Incredibly, there are no recriminations, and hardly any confrontation, or even curiosity, concerning Millie’s deceptions. Instead, the greater issue seems to be harm done to Millie through betrayal by her boyfriend and best buddy, as though romantic infidelity trumps any other consideration.

A crucial catharsis is missing, and the remarkable skills and talents of the team can’t quite take up the slack.

This reviewer feels the denouement might have instead benefited from exploring themes relevant to one’s emergence into the cut-throat career arena, such ambition, decision-making, prestige — and what may be left behind: friendships, loyalty, trust, and so on. Of course, there’s nothing at all wrong with a happy ending. But to have depth it needs the challenges that adversity fosters in the lives of the characters and how they were changed it.

On the other hand, speaking of adversity and decision-making, a case can be made to approach this film as a focused character study of Millie’s problem-solving resourcefulness. It takes up the mainstay of plot, and quite astonishing; this is a logistical triumph. It speaks loudly to the concerted skill of the team, and it’s easy to join in with the sense of compassion for Millie and believe in her abilities. Among the terrific performances by the cast, Ana Scotney as Millie is outstanding.

Rating: 7/10

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