The Good Lie isn’t really based on a true story, more inspired by events than anything else. It shows the kinds of things Sudanese refugees, especially the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” have gone through, and continue to go through today.
The movie follows a young (pre-teen) handful of family and tribe mates, the only survivors of an attack on their village. As they trek hundreds of miles through the harsh terrain of Sudan in seek of help, they continue to lose members to starvation and roaming soldiers. Finally they come to a refugee camp in Kenya, where life is hard but at least survivable. I think many Americans think refugee camps are temporary shelters, but this movie opens your eyes when it jumps forward 13 years and the surviving troupe are still in the same camp living out a haphazard existence. Finally they win a lottery and are picked to come to the USA, paid by help organizations here, to start a new life. Though they think their troubles are over, they realize upon arriving that they will be split up.
This is a fairly heart-wrenching movie. Each family member reacts differently to their new life in America. One embraces religion in thanks for their fortune, one wonders a bit aimlessly at the loss of their sister, and one throws himself into work. Yet they all stay together, with the 3 of them pooling their money to send just one of them to college. Remaining spoiler-free, I can’t really say much about the title other than it too shows how the 3 of them will do anything for the well-being of their family and friends. As the final credits rolled, it showed the 4 main actors as also true Sudan civil war survivors, several of whom were forced into child soldiers as youth. A gripping film.
Jons Movie Takes 