Veronique Richepois, a bank officer, appears to have it all. She is happily married to a scientist, has a beautiful house in Angoueleme and works as a bank officer. As the story begins, she is preparing her daughter Cecile's wedding. At dinner, one night, Veronique tells Cecile and her fiancé, she will give them a forty day trip around the world, something that is more than generous on her part.
What we do not realize is that Veronique has been stealing from her older clients' accounts funds which go to finance her style of life. Suddenly, one day, while watching a television news broadcast, she learns about the fatal aviation accident where one of her older clients, and four members of his family die tragically. The incident marks the beginning of her own downfall.
Everything begins to unravel in Veronique's life, when a surviving member of the family, Nicolas Peyrolle, whose uncle is killed in the accident, comes to inquire about the state of his uncle's account. Veronique suspects this young man will bring her down, but she does not count in the fact that Nicolas will begin his own investigation when he goes to another executive of the bank, Laurent Lignac, a man that secretly has wanted Veronique, and who has witnessed the death of another of her clients in his own office. Veronique is a monster that has even stolen from her own sister Sylvie, in order to keep her lifestyle.
"Les mensonges", a French television drama, was shown recently on a French cable channel. Directed by Fabrice Cazaneuve from a screenplay written by Arnaud Bedouet and Pierre Chosson, the television movie presents a plausible scenario of how a person in a position of power, in this case, Veronique, can prey on the older population of society, the ones that need it the most. Veronique wanted more from life, something she would not have been able to achieve with the job she had. Instead, she chose a criminal path to deprive the elder citizens of their life savings because she craved for a life she could not otherwise have.
The drama is made more compelling by Marilyne Canto, who plays Veronique with a simplicity that amazes. All that is going on in her mind is clearly seen in the face of Ms. Canto, a talented performer one has seen in other minor roles in films. Hyppolite Girardot is Jean-Louis, Veronique's husband. Others in supporting roles are, Scali Delpeyrat, Marie Payen and Nicolas Giraud, who surprises with his take of the surviving nephew of the man that died in the plane crash.
