{"id":19009,"date":"2026-03-11T06:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/the-good-lie-a-story-of-survival-and-hope\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:07:00","slug":"the-good-lie-a-story-of-survival-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/the-good-lie-a-story-of-survival-and-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good Lie: A Story of Survival and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an African proverb that says, \u201cIf you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.\u201d That\u2019s the line that closes the movie The Good Lie<\/em>, which stars Reese Witherspoon, and though the words only appear once on the screen, their meaning can be felt throughout the 112 minutes of the movie.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re there when gunslingers ravage a Sudanese village, killing mothers and fathers and orphaning their children. They appear again as group of young boys and their sister walk hundreds of miles, battling nature, hunger and thirst in order to find somewhere far away from their violent homes. They\u2019re even present when a group of refugees get a chance at a new life, an ocean away, in a strange land with even stranger people. They are the all-encompassing message of The Good Lie<\/em> and they\u2019ll stay with you long after the credits have rolled.<\/p>\n

The film, directed by Philippe Falardeau and costarring House of Cards<\/em> alum Corey Stoll, could\u2019ve easily been another tale of white men and women serving as saviors to those of color. Witherspoon\u2019s character, Carrie Davis, works for an employment agency and is tasked with finding three young men\u2014known collectively as the “Lost Boys”\u2014jobs after they\u2019ve been transported from their war-torn country of Sudan to Kansas City, Missouri. Instead, the movie does something even better, and braver; it eschews its Hollywood A-lister in favor of good story-telling.<\/p>\n

For Witherspoon fans, you get your healthy dose of the actress. She\u2019s both neglectful and nurturing in her attitude towards the “Lost Boys” and her own character\u2019s journey is well-sussed out during the film. But the real stars of the show are the men and children who must convey the struggle, heartbreak and loss 3,600 other real-life refugees experienced during the civil war that took place in Sudan in the 1980s and continues today.<\/p>\n

After burying friends, watching their brothers be taken as child soldiers, swimming through rivers littered with dead bodies and surviving over a decade in the harsh conditions of a Kenyan refugee camp, Mamere (Arnold Oceng), Jeremiah (Ger Duany), Paul (Emmanuel Jal) and Abital (Kuoth Wiel) are given a golden ticket to America.<\/p>\n

Despite the trials they\u2019ve already endured, they must again face cruelty, this time at the hand of the US government, as the boys are parted from their sister before their new life can begin. This separation is even harder to take than some of the atrocities you watch the children go through in the beginning of the film and it only serves to show that nothing will come easy for these young men who have already had it so rough. From temptations to unfulfilling careers and the overwhelming feeling that what they went through doesn\u2019t matter to many people, the Lost Boys struggle with the reality of their American Dream.<\/p>\n

Culture-clashing moments inject the movie with a healthy dose of humor. From fearing escalators to hearing the \u201cWhy\u2019d the chicken cross the road?\u201d joke for the first time, to reveling in the fact that Carrie is unmarried, with no children and surviving on her own, watching the men adjust to life in America gives the audience some much needed laughs in spite of the film\u2019s heavy content.<\/p>\n

Oceng and Duany are brilliant as Mamere and Jeremiah. In his first American starring role, Oceng easily carries the film as his emotionally complex Mamere weighs his dreams of going to college and becoming a doctor against his sense of responsibility to his family, all while battling his own survivor’s guilt. The sacrifices he\u2019s asked to make for his family are incredible and it\u2019s his scene at the end of the movie that will have you reaching for your tissues. Duany’s Jeremiah is the spiritual center of the film, with a tight grip on his Bible and desire to help those in the community. His spiritual journey will touch your heart.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another wonderful moment when Jal’s Paul is explaining the scars on his arm to his co-workers. He tells them a lion\u2019s teeth made the marks, which the men immediately rebuff as a lie, but as Paul goes on to explain how he tried to save his brother from a pack of lions ready to eat them both, a sudden understanding dawns. Life experiences divide them so deeply that they could never even imagine the horrors Paul and his brothers faced. Jal beautifully captures that sense of grief and loneliness with just a look.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s amazing about all three characters is their unwavering faith and how heavily they rely on it. Though they\u2019ve been tested with things no person should ever have to experience, they never once question God\u2019s plan for their life. It\u2019s their optimism and love for each other that\u2019s so inspiring.<\/p>\n

But what you absolutely cannot ignore while watching the film is the back-story of the actors themselves. Both Duany and Jal are actual children of war, refugees who experienced many of the same things their characters go through in the film, and Oceng is the son of refugees. All three are so connected to the history of this story that they can\u2019t help but be authentic in the emotions they convey. They\u2019re the heart of the film and it\u2019s their own stories as well as the stories they tell that will leave such a lasting impression.<\/p>\n

The Good Lie opens in select theaters Friday, October 3, and releases everywhere October 24th.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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