THE LIE GAME (2018)

THE LIE GAME (2018)

Tagline: Three questions. Two players. One life changing lie.

(Drama, Sci-Fi, Lie Detecting) [Short]

Don’t hold yourself back because of me, when I really miss you I can come back here. I promise I’ll be fine without you. 

In this one, a computer engineer named Mira is running out of funds for her anti-depression AI called “Smiley”, but has one chance to catch a big tech firm in a lie to get the job of her dreams. 

First off, this is a very minimalistic sci-fi short, don’t expect anything mind-blowing. There are no aliens or robots or giant cactus creatures. I know…I know, but it’s going to be okay. With the credits, this thing is only 15 minutes long. You can do 15 minutes without those things. 

One thing I find that was pretty interesting about this movie is the fact that from studies we know that generally speaking too much time online or using technology depresses people. So I found it interesting that Mira in this short is trying to create an AI that helps with depression. It makes sense to me why no tech company wanted to buy her AI. It’s counterintuitive, but then we get a question to wrestle with. Can the thing we know can cause depression also be part of solving it? From a spiritual perspective, the answer is no, but on a surface level, it’s intriguing. 

Acting wise I haven’t seen Shalini Bathina in anything else, but she is good in this as Mira. I do kind of think that the pregnant pauses in her answers during her engagement with Dileep Rao who plays Joel, is very good. Dileep Rao by the way is most famous for playing Dr. Max Patel in AVATAR. There are a few other performances in this, but the interaction with anything I can actually give an opinion on happens between these two. The performances are pretty solid here. Director Jyothi Kalyan Sura has only done shorts from the director’s chair, but he has done visual effects for major films like DARK PHOENIX and MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL also which is really cool. 

What this film does really well is slip in the whole reason Mira is doing what she’s doing. She never says why, but it’s clear she is dealing with loss and pain and wanted some form of companionship. Mira gets emotionally attached to her AI project giving defense for it as more than just code and I kind of get some of that, but all of it is steeped in her own depression. So there are a couple ways you can look at this. Either this lady could just go outside and touch grass, or she could hope that AI really is the answer to at least some loneliness and depression issues. The film doesn’t give an answer, but given the ending, we are kind of given the direction it’s going to go in.

Overall there is a good amount packed into this thing but showing Mira as being so dependent on “Smiley” is a slight downer. We do get good acting, but the story isn’t all that interesting in spite of the questions it asks. I think we’ve seen better short films about the good and bad of AI and technology in general. 

THE LIE GAME gets a 3 out of 7. I have seen more packed into less time. I think all the pauses in Mira's answers really came across as a detriment to the concept.
 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF JYOTHI KALYAN SURA AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.