Millie Lies Low review – stark Gen Z dramedy avoids easy answers

In most other movies, the Millie (Ana Scotney) of Millie Lies Low could feel like the definition of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but it’s to the great credit of debut writer-director Michelle Savill that she instead feels deeply, painfully real. After having a panic attack that forces her off her plane bound for a prestigious architecture scholarship in New York, New Zealander Millie doubles down, pretending to her friends and family that she’s made it to the Big Apple and is living the high life there.

It’s a plot that feels custom built for a sort of airy, consequence-free quirkiness, but Savill instead plays it absolutely straight as a protracted mental crisis, one that sees Millie desperately lying to her loved ones and forcing herself into a homeless exile. It’s in bringing a silly comedy plot into a resolutely real world that Millie Lies Low finds its greatest strengths, making the absurdity tragic, aided by a strong and subtly pained performance from Scotney.

We see how the lies come so naturally to her with cleverly placed bits of backstory that show how she ripped off a close friend to get the New York placement to begin with, a crime she not only regrets but ultimately hasn’t won her anything. As the plot progresses, it does start to strain credulity in a substantial way as Savill has to come up with more and more ways to have Millie avoid seeing anyone she knows, but this central sadness keeps it grounded.

A slightly unsatisfying final 20 minutes and some overly cutesy business with a stolen pet bunny aside, Millie Lies Low is a striking calling card for both director and star, clearly deeply felt and avoiding cliches about Gen Z social media embellishments in favour of a stark and personal character study.

Millie Lies Low is now available on various streaming platforms.