It would have been easy to produce a film with this premise and provide a cut-out 'mean girl' as the central character. Thankfully the writers and producers here are much smarter and have given us something quite unique.
Kacey Rohl's performance as Katie Arneson is brilliant. Morally her behaviour is appalling, but is played with such subtlety that I found myself strangely sympathetic.
She is obviously mentally ill, whether by whim of fate or something darker in her past. Her increasingly desperate attempts to keep the lie alive do not feel evil or driven by avarice, but by the need to hold on to the acceptance and love she finds with her 'diagnosis'.
The film lacks the usual Hollywood trappings and as such feels like an almost documentary-like record of a period in Katie's life. Be prepared to be thrown into the story (and out of it again) with almost no exposition or explanation and certainly no satisfying 'gotcha!' ending.
Overall a teriffic piece of work by all involved, which I highly recommend.
Kacey Rohl's performance as Katie Arneson is brilliant. Morally her behaviour is appalling, but is played with such subtlety that I found myself strangely sympathetic.
She is obviously mentally ill, whether by whim of fate or something darker in her past. Her increasingly desperate attempts to keep the lie alive do not feel evil or driven by avarice, but by the need to hold on to the acceptance and love she finds with her 'diagnosis'.
The film lacks the usual Hollywood trappings and as such feels like an almost documentary-like record of a period in Katie's life. Be prepared to be thrown into the story (and out of it again) with almost no exposition or explanation and certainly no satisfying 'gotcha!' ending.
Overall a teriffic piece of work by all involved, which I highly recommend.