Yesterday, Blumhouse and Amazon Prime Video announced that eight new genre films will be heading to the streaming service under the "Welcome to Blumhouse" banner. Putting the focus on diverse casts, female voices and emerging filmmakers, the first slate of four films (the second half will arrive in 2021) kicks off with The Lie, written and directed by The Killing creator Veena Sud, which launches on October 6 alongside Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.'s Black Box.
Starring Joey King, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mireille Enos, the film follows a family torn to pieces after their teenage daughter (King) confessed to a horrible crime. Desperate to protect their family no matter the cost, the scramble to coverup for their kid while trying to come to terms with what she's capable of only drives them into darker, more twisted territory.
The role of a teenage psychopath might come as a bit of a surprise to fans who became familiar with King through her effervescent performance in Netflix's hit rom-com The Kissing Booth franchise (though if you caught Hulu's The Act, you already know how dark King can get,) but according to Sud, those are the very qualities that made her ideal for the role. "Joey is capable of an immense range - she can go from a sweet rom-com heroine all the way to a troubled, co-dependent, murderous teen in the blink of an eye," Sud said.
"I needed all of that in the character of Kayla, a teenage girl who kills her best friend and seems to have little remorse about it. A real high wire act for any actor but in joey's hands, it was so authentic, believable. She's an immense talent and brought so much humanity to this young, troubled girl which I knew Kayla had to have to be the center of this story."
While Sud is no stranger to tales of crime and punishment after four seasons of her Golden Globe-nominated series The Killing, the feature format offered an opportunity to approach the genre in a new way. "Packing into 90 minutes what I'm used to writing for a 10-13 hour story creates a natural propulsive energy where not one moment is superfluous, not one frame is wasted," Sud said.
Speaking to the consistent popularity of crime thrillers in entertainment, Sud said, "Murder is an extreme act, one that pushes both the victim, the family, community, the killer to confront the darkest parts of who they really are. In The Lie, the veneer of civilization is slowly peeled away, moment by moment, as Kayla and her family circle the wagons, protect what is theirs. One bad deed leads to another until they are unrecognizable to themselves."
The Lie also arrives in a world that's all but recognizable for the time being, with theatrical distributors limping back into business amid the pandemic. But streaming might just be the perfect way to watch The Lie, making the domestic drama and contained thrills feel even more intimate. "The darker, sadder, more uncomfortable truths in this family will strike home - forgive the pun - differently in a movie theater with strangers versus in one's own living room with family," Sud said. "The intimacy of this drama is actually perfect for viewing at home, if maybe deeply uncomfortable at moments."
Check out our exclusive first-look image below. The Lie arrives on Amazon Prime Video October 6, followed by Evil Eye and Nocturne on October 13, and a slate of for more films to follow in 2021.
