In 2005, Clement Virgo worked with novelist Tamara Berger to adapt her book, Lie With Me, for the screen. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, but it didn't get any recognition beyond its soundtrack by Broken Social Scene. It's understandable why Lie With Me got lost in the swirl of the modern day independent film scene. Its selling points aren't exactly unique. By the middle of this decade, explicit sexual content in non-pornographic films became a fast cliche within indie circles, especially when it was used in dire arthouse pictures.
The difference between Lie With Me and other films like The Brown Bunny or Ken Park is that the sex isn't really a device for shock or edge. Rather, it's the entire story. Lauren Lee Smith plays Leila, a hyper-sexual 20-something in the middle of a particularly stormy period of her life. With an apartment full of porn and a propensity for random hookups on any given night of the week, Leila looks more like an addict the further the story progresses. It's a shame that's not where the plot ends up.
Rather than being a frank depiction of sex addiction, Lie With Me is often an unnecessary romantic drama about gorgeous people being passive-agressive. The object of affection in the more conventional part of the story is David, played by Eric Balfour. Leila meets David while the two of them have simultaneous sexual encounters outside of a nightclub; David with his girlfriend and Leila with some random dweeb we ought to never see again, but unfortunately do in the overwrought third act.
What follows the nightclub scene is the single most beautiful moment in the entire movie. In a hazy-sunny suburban neighborhood, Leila wanders on the way to her parent's house, only to stumble upon David's truck. Once she gets his attention, a dream-like chase ensues with unexpected changes of pace and a fortunate silencing of Leila's voiceover. When the two would-be lovers stop at a playground, Leila displays a moment of exhibitionism that rockets past eroticism into a much more primal, even disturbing place. David (who acts as an audience stand-in for normal people) reacts accordingly, running away.
Like a great many films, Lie With Me would work a lot better as a short, stopping after 45 minutes or less. As gorgeous as the sunny chase scene is, Virgo diminishes it by using the same device later. It's too common a problem with filmmakers to mistake sophomorism with symmetry. As for the story itself, Berger either had no idea what potential her characters had, or she wasn't brave enough to follow through. Leila makes herself miserable with her promiscuity, but she never experiences any lasting consequences for screwing over the people who care about her. Lie With Me certainly wouldn't benefit from a streak of puritanism, but that doesn't mean the happy ending we're given is any less absurd or incongruous.
Lie With Me had all the potential to be the Trainspotting of sex addiction. Had it gone in that direction, I have no doubt it would be hailed as a great achievement. The story sets up an excellent parallel between the empty sexual intimacy pursued by Leila and the meaningful familial intimacy embraced by David while he takes care of his ailing father. The explicit scenes are so frequent and unflinching that desensitization soon settles in. The first half of the film sets up an intricate house of emotional cards that look like they're waiting for a fierce wind. When that disaster never comes, the result is just another tacked-on happily ever after.