White Lies

I used to consider Lifetime or Hallmark stuff are bad, but if compared them with this White Lies, they'd immediately transform into masterpiece. I don't even know why I need to write a review on this horrible drama series. The screenplay is so bad, all the actors, except Dormer, who's also the producer, are just so amateurish, especially the young guy who plays the son of the murdered parents and the elder brother to his sister. His bad acting in addition to the bad screenplay and those horrible actors who played the cops, are the major reasons that nearly ruined this drama from the very beginning. I have to admit that I didn't waste my time to watch the whole eight episodes; I really didn't need to since it's so predictable. After in the middle of the second episode, I skipped to the last one, and voila, nothing really out of my prediction. I have to say that even in the last episode, it's still so bad and I was lucky I didn't so mindlessly waste my time going through the whole series.

Writing this review is perhaps the hardest one that I've ever did, because it's just so bad that I don't even know how to put it into words to describe it. To fulfill the required words is just so painful like a torture.

Eight episodes is too long for a drama where we dont warm to any character. We get to learn something of modern South Africa, there a high production values,, the acting is good and the location pretty but the direction and story meanders with every possible plot twist employed and many sub plot cul de sacs

Natalie is a great actress but this is her being stroppy on steroids. Her character, super journalist Eddie, is too lucky, stumbling across, everything and everybody she needs and having unbelievable access to all areas. Would a security guard leave his post to accompany her to a dangerous area? There are script issues from the start. Why does a millionaire's son needs a scholarship? The relationship between the odd daughter and handsome son is bizarre and changes with the plot line. The police have to be stupid, corrupt. Damaged and overly forgiving so Eddie can steer the investigation.

It's moderately interesting . You wont miss much by skipping q .an early episode and watching the catch up.

White Lies: South African Noir. A journalist is drawn into a tangled web of crime when her estranged brother is murdered and his wife left in a coma. Her teenage niece and nephew are suspects and she must now try and care for them. She is a stranger to them though. A hard boiled detective is convinced that the nephew did it. But a myriad of suspects emerge as a shoal of red herrings swim into the script. Some pointed social commentary on race, class and corruption in present day South Africa. There are some violent scenes but the real violence exposed is land grabs. A few interesting plot twists. Created by Sean Steinberg and written by Darrel Bristow-Bovey. Eight episodes on Channel 4. 7.5/10.

No much to see in this tv show. Everything you want to see is in the last two episodes. Most contents in first six episodes have nothing to do with the crime, as most are false trails. The show is not just about solving the crime, you can also see how two different characters, Edie Hanson and Forty Bell change throughout the investigation. The show also spends some time on family, mostly, toxic relationships. Some lines are great too. The ending may be very shocked to some viewers. But the background music is a bit annoying. There are some good storylines about family but not too much. Not too much about the characters either. The first episodes give you too many false trails which won't help you with the crime. By the way, good to see Natalie Dormer again.

Basically I thought the series was good. At halftime it was actually pretty clear who did it or had a hand in it. But it was worth the time to see it through.

But what really caught the eye was the acting/non-acting performance of the actor playing the son.

I kept thinking: Did the director tell him to look so dumb or is that just his natural facial expression? Who is he related to that got him this part? Please never give this young man a part again. Or send him to acting-classes, for five or six years.

The sister was only half as bad, but not really good either.

I liked Dormer, Janks and Daniels, in that order.