The Good Liar

Dir: Bill Condon

Stars: Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren

(Four stars)

Here’s a late entry for best film of 2019. The Good Liar is a decade hopping crime thriller directed by Bill Condon and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. It stars Ian McKellen as a career con artist who meets a wealthy widow (Helen Mirren) online, and then discovers that his plan to steal her fortune has unexpected roadblocks.

Sure it might sound ‘simply enough’, but The Good Liar is so masterfully done that every plot twist is acting masterclass gold. 

Roy Courtnay (McKellen) is a high end British scammer, who along with his business partner Vincent, manipulates people into giving him access to their finances through a string of deceptions and false identities. In 2009, his latest target is Betty McLeish (Mirren) – a former history professor at Oxford who lost her husband a year ago and has savings in excess of two million pounds.

Feigning a bad knee, Roy manipulates Betty into allowing him to stay at her house. He steadily encourages her to open a joint offshore investment account with him, so that he can steal her money. 

That’s the set up anyway … the rest of the plot goes deep. Russian gangsters, dirty deeds, a little eye watering violence and, at the heart of it all, is a bloody good story. The Good Liar runs like a beautiful Swiss timepiece. 

We won’t give too much away, but this film is a real iceberg. You think the danger is above the water, but down below is an acre of bad blood and more trouble. 

Both leads – and the supporting cast – are superb. As the story unravels and spools to the finale you’ll be completely engrossed. There’s no green screen – okay there’s one scene we won’t give away – superb acting and a film that relies on story, story and more story. 

Engaging from the outset. This is a film not to be missed. 

Mitchell Peters