Review of The Four-Faced Liar (2010) by Mikael K — 14 Nov 2010

Molly and Greg, a loving couple in a seemingly stable relationship, move to New York City and hit it off with a local couple Chloe and Trip. Chloe and Trip are best friends with Bridget, an outspoken lesbian who leads a bohemian lifestyle of unashamed promiscuity. Molly is fascinated by Bridget's confidence and strength, and soom the two women form a friendship that starts to grow into something sexual.

âThe Fouf-Faced Liarâ? appears at first glance to be a rather standart relashionship movie with a story that utilizes a few queer cinema clichà (C)s too many. But it grows beyond all that and turns into an unusually honest and analytical exploration on human intimacies. The whole âmain character discovers her homosexualityâ?-phase is left behind quite early on and the story instead focuses on what happens after.

This film is all about consequences, and it doesn't let the characters off the hook easily. I often find stories about people who abandon a perfectly functional life arrangement on some romantic impulse extremely annoying and unrealistic, as they in essence endorse a fantasy over real life. But here the phenomenon is seen as something almost tragic; Molly and Bridget simply can't keep themselves from destroying the people around them, even as they are completely aware that that's exactly what they are doing. Bridget could be described as a classic trickster character who mixes everything up, but even her apparent selfishness and lack of self control are viewed from a human perspective. Bridget is played by Marja Lewis Ryan who has also adapted the script from her own play.

âThe Four-Faced Liarâ? is ultimately a mature and refreshingly intellectual relationship drama. It dives into the illogical nature of people and shows that life can sometimes be about unavoidable no-win scenarios where everyone gets injured. The movie's view on love is very primal and unglorified; people are driven by impulses that often conflict with the social norms around them. The functionality of a possesively monogamous relationship model is brough to question directly. As for the lesbian theme I can say that the film would have worked quite well with a normative heterosexual relationship challenging the status quo. But what binds the whole thing to the queer point of view is the story's cold statement that people who feel desires that conflict with the views of the community around them can never be truly happy; not by conforming nor by rebelling.