At it's core The Effects of Lying is a heartfelt film about the secrets a family keep from each other and how they each deal with the consequences of their secrets being revealed. While this is an interesting premise, the way the film decides to tell this story leaves it feeling tonally confused. It is advertised as being a comedy but it isn't funny enough to truly be considered as such, while at the same time it's also a bit too lighthearted and silly in moments to come across as a serious thought-provoking drama. Looking at the previous work of the writer and director it appears they both come from a background of working on TV dramas which makes the comedy angle even more confusing. I also felt that some of the characters' reactions to the situations they found themselves in were somewhat unusual and unrealistic, and that some characters are forgiven for their actions a little too easily.
The main reason I decided to watch the film was because it starred Laila Rouass who is a personal favourite actress of mine since her days of playing Sarah Page in Primeval and as expected she gives another good performance in this film with what she's given. Mark Williams of Father Brown and Harry Potter fame is also a nice addition to the cast, though his talent is somewhat wasted here as a character that only really exists to reveal a secret about our main protagonist's past. The rest of the cast I am not as familiar with but they all gave fine performances with what they had to work with.
Overall while it isn't perfect, The Effects of Lying is a watchable film with some heartfelt moments and messages on family and what's important in life. If only the film had a more consistent tone I may have given it a higher rating.
