Lindsey Lowson / 28 July 2025 / Categories: Movie and TV Shows, Movie

The Lies We Tell shows us in a period drama life hasn’t actually changed that much

Especially for women life continues with gender inequality when it comes to money and power

Lisa Mulcahy is an award winning writer and director, having directed numerous TV dramas and documentaries. She directed this incredible gothic thriller Lies We Tell starring Agnes O'Casey and David Wilmot in 2023, for which she deservedly won the IFTA for Best Director.

This beautiful film is well worth watching especially if like me you revel in sprawling scene scapes, wide angle shots, and beautifully framed visuals, exquisite architecture, landscapes and architectural digest worthy interiors, creating dramatic storytelling with exquisite sets and period costumes. It truly is a visual feast.

Although a gothic in feel tragedy slash period drama Lisa Mulchay has taken a clever story with a triumphant against all odds heroine Maud, think a rich Jane Eyre an heiress with a solid head on her shoulders but no experience or education in the ways and underhand dealings of men after her money, and created a very modern film of the ages. She has brought together a world of literary feminist fiction with a spooky gory horror theme, that does grip and then chill.

Hence the apt title as the film both explores and excavates these themes of greed and power drawing in the viewer as we traverse the protocol and tradition of a very young heiress “protected” by individuals both blood relations and elected professionals “trustees” all paid supposedly to ensure her happiness and well being upon her fathers death.

But like in life when large amounts of money are at stake young Maud must navigate the lies and underhand dealings without honed instincts or any real experience of the horrors that she will be subjected to as everyone but especially her uncle, her father’s disenfranchised younger brother Silas Ruthyn, tries to get their hands on her money.

The film explores the inequalities toward women at the time, 1864 Ireland and the power the men elected to protect her and her assets yield over her with the law on their side.

At times the film is shattering to the core as we the powerless observers, the watchers, will young Maud to see the light, get clever, fight back but at the same time understanding her nativity immaturity and inexperience so cleverly and subtly expressed in the work of lead actress Agnes O’Casey.

Inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel Uncle Silas and adapted for the screen by Elisabeth Gooch, a story of great depth about human nature slowly and mindfully unfurls. And although some may find the action to drag at times I was kept intrigued by the chilling nature of the subject matter, working out who the real bad guys were (and not just the men in the story) and silently willing Maud on to somehow navigate the horrific situation ahead she finds herself embroiled in when it is she who actually has all the money and power. The keys to Knowl, a sprawling remote estate in Ireland and her ancestral home, she realises can only remain hers whilst ever she remains single and in charge of her own destiny. A sweet innocent girl who finds herself powerless until she too embodies the demons and treachery she herself faces to shift her destiny. The price she pays to overcome the peril she faces way more than money. Once again discovering and uncovering, the Lies we tell, only this time to ourselves.

There are a few surprises in the tale that do come out of nowhere and it is a grisly tale indeed when all is said and done.

Not usually the type of movie I would watch as it leans in to the popular horror genre of late, I guess for a younger audience whilst capturing all the beauty of a magnificent period historical piece.

I did love it and would probably watch again. A classic story that we all can relate to. Extremely empowering for women full of hope with a dose of stark reality that whilst we do have a little more protection in the law in some places around the globe, in others things have not really moved on at all and the fairer sex still has a long way to go in successfully navigating the power balance when it comes to survival and complete independence.

Like Maud discovers in the story, the truth must be used sparingly and cleverly, reserved only for those we hold in the highest esteem and regard. The film challenges the age old adage “Honesty is the best policy” as we learn that perhaps lying is sometimes absolutely essential when we too are lied to blatantly and without conscience, a tool of psychological manipulation to protect ourselves in the face of evil. As someone who purposefully endeavours to be truthful and told by those close I am a terrible liar, the conflicting themes and how they were tackled I found absolutely fascinating.

In the end the film leaves us questioning whether money does indeed always corrupt and we learn as too quite brutally for Maud, be ready for the “lies we tell” because when you’ve got it, money that is, you can be sure someone, somewhere wants to take it from you, at what cost, well some will go further than others and some will stop at nothing.