Millie Lies Low – REVIEW
Image: Ana Scotney in Millie Lies Low. Image: film still
By MARTIN FABINYI
Millie Lies Low is an intriguing New Zealand film from first-time feature director Michelle Savill. It premiered at Whānau Mārama New Zealand Film Festival, with its international premiere at Berlinale Berlin International Film Festival.
Millie Lies Low lives up to its name as a low-key, atmospheric piece which succeeds through the luminous performance of its lead, Ana Scotney. She appears in every scene, and the story is told through her eyes.
The movie follows Millie from the opening scene where she is forced through a panic attack to leave her flight from Wellington to New York to take up an architectural internship. Due to shame and humiliation, she goes underground in her home town and discovers more about her life and friends (and lover) than she had ever known; sleeping in university rooms, and a tent, she finally surfaces with redemptive optimism.
Millie Lies Low is an impressive first feature. It’s a breakthrough for Savill. Her short, Ellen is Leaving won Best Narrative Short Film at SXSW Film Festival and San Francisco Film Festival. She attended the Berlinale Talent Lab and won a script development internship at Killer Films in New York through Script-to-Screen.
Savill’s short films have screened at Aspen, Rotterdam, Sydney, Edinburgh, Clermont-Ferrand and Melbourne, where she attended the MIFF Accelerator Programme. Her online content has amassed over two million views and has been showcased on Short of the Week and Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere.
Ana Scotney is a New Zealand-based actress & filmmaker. She’s known for her role in the long-running series Shortland Street, the successful New Zealand film The Breaker Upperers, and has recently finished filming the new Netflix series God’s Favourite Idiot in Byron Bay, alongside Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone, and Steve Mallory.
She has the most expressive face in this film, occupying the physical space with aplomb.
Millie Lies Low is a nuanced portrait of millennial life that could be set in any mid-sized city. Much of the communication is unspoken, with images from Instagram expressing the plotlines. But it is uniquely New Zealand, with its remarkable Indigenous culture interwoven into the lives of the characters.
★★★
In cinemas November 17
