Having won three IFTAs, the film holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Saturday, 29 November) is Lies We Tell, the brilliant 2023 Irish gothic thriller.
Inspired by the classic novel Uncle Silas by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, the film is set in Ireland in 1864.
The story follows a newly orphaned heiress named Maud Ruthyn (Agnes O’Casey, Small Things Like These).
“Maud becomes the ward of her distant Uncle Silas (David Wilmot, Bodkin) when, grief-stricken and proud, she rejects support from her official trustees, preferring the greater independence she imagines the familial arrangement will afford,” the plot synopsis reads.
“Welcoming Silas, his children and their governess to her isolated manor, she soon learns that Silas’s intentions are far from benign as he schemes to snatch her fortune through enforced marriage to his son Edward (Chris Walley, The Young Offenders), an evil buffoon.
“But the escalating danger and violent assaults ignite a fire in the young heiress, determined to fight for her birthright till the bitter end.”
Boasting phenomenal performances, a rich and gloomy atmosphere, a dark and twisty story, and timely themes, Lies We Tell puts a fresh modern spin on an old classic.
Currently holding a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie also picked up three awards at the 2024 Irish Film and Television Academy Awards (IFTAs).
O’Casey was victorious in the Best Actress category, while Lisa Mulcahy (The Assassin) and Elisabeth Gooch won Best Director and Best Script, respectively.
Lies We Tell is airing on TV tonight on RTÉ One at 10.05pm. It is also available to rent through IFI@Home and Rakuten TV.