The Lie (2018) is a psychological horror thriller movie that dives deep into the consequences of one seemingly small lie that comes into a nightmare. What starts as a simple father-daughter road trip quickly turns into a thrilling and moral conflict. In this article, I break down the story, explore the shocking plot twists, and explain the ending of The Lie in detail. If you’re looking for a complete explanation of The Lie (2018), including what really happened and why, you’re in the right place.
The Lie (2018) Movie Plot Story Explained [Heavy Spoiler Ahead/Alert]
The Lie (2018) starts with Kayla. Kayla is the only child of her parents. They love their child so much. Kayla was living happily with her parents. But happiness never lasts forever.
Her parents broke up. They move on in their life and now there is someone else in their life. Kayla can’t cope with the fact that there are two different lives of her parents. Someone else is their priority now. This breaks her heart. But still, she is trying to concede.
The strong winter storm headed for the East Coast could drop up to a foot of snow on parts of Upstate New York Friday. A woman is describing the weather forecast. Kayla is going with her mom and her husband to meet her dad and reminiscing about her childhood happy memories.
When she used to be soaked in rain. Her mom breaks her distraction and says she has kept her inhaler in the first compartment of the bag. She says not to lose it like the last time she did.
He leaves for the plane and Kayla asks if dad knows he is moving in yet.
Kayla considers it a stupid retreat. She just wants to stay home.
They reach Dad’s home and she wants to eat something because she hasn’t eaten today yet. Dad offers crazy Custard pancakes. Trini comes to say hi to them.
Becca and Kayla get so unhappy seeing her. She plays Cello in the band. Mom tells her to see her Monday night and to enjoy the pancakes. She doesn’t sit near her father and takes an inhaler. It shows she hates him. He guesses that her mom doesn’t know about Trini.
A sweet song is playing and suddenly Kayla notices Britney and she is also going to ballet in Gresham. She takes her into her car. She has been so peachy with her dad from the very beginning. They are having fun talking and seeing pictures.
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Suddenly she starts to flirt with her dad. Band music is being played in the car. She gets into it. It is His band. She asks about his band, like if he is a lead singer. She goes to Soul Garage sometimes and asks if he plays there. Kayla says he is old so it’s not his place. Kayla says what happened to her face. Looks like she got hit or something. She says to quit staring. She needs to pee so tells him to pull over.
So dad pulls over and time passes but they don’t come. Dad goes there to find them. He gets Kayla but not Britney. He tells her to call 911.
Dad asks what her code is. But she says something shocking. She says she pushed her and she fell. Dad takes her to Mom and Becca says she talked you out of going again. She thinks she should have dropped her off herself. He says he will take her on the retreat. But Kayla gets sick. She vomits out of stress. Dad wants to take her home but she refuses because Trini is there. So she goes with Mom.
Kayla asks if he thinks she is pretty. Ballet school calls. Mom says about the situation. Dad says if she needs to get back, he can stay with her. She says she can work from home. He says maybe he should get her back to his place because it’s closer to Gresham. She says she will drop her off tomorrow.
He just needs to make sure that he always has an inhaler in his car. She could get in serious trouble without it. Jay still hasn’t said anything. He looks at the sofa but Kayla isn’t there. She is having a shower in the bathtub. Jay and Becca go there and Becca talks with Kayla. She says she doesn’t know what is going on with them but she is going to the retreat tomorrow.
She finds a hole in her t-shirt and Kayla tells her everything when she is asked. Jay says they should hire a great lawyer. The person she argued the Walker case against is the best. Becca says he shouldn’t have just driven away. He says what he was supposed to do. She needs a lawyer. Someone to help her.
Becca says they are not gonna plea this out. Helmes is a law and order type. He is the city prosecutor. He will make an example of her. He will try her as an adult. Jay says she is 15 years old. It wasn’t intentional, it was an accident. But they both know the truth.
Becca wants to go into the river to check out whether the girl is alive or not. But Jay says she is dead. Becca feels so weak suddenly, that Jay grabs her. Jay asks if she is with him. She says yes. She burnt the sweater Kayla was wearing during the murder. The next day Becca wakes up seeing a nightmare and Kayla wants something to eat. They go to make breakfast together.
Becca is careful with her. Jay comes and joins in their breakfast with them. Kayla has made eggs with Jalapenos and Gouda. Jay says she seems okay, that’s good. But how can someone act so normal after committing a crime?
Jay says she is shocked that’s why she is acting like this. Becca asks if they are sure that nobody saw them. Jay says they were in the middle of nowhere but a truck saw the car. Becca gets thrilled but then Jay says Kayla was never there. She got sick at my house and I went to the office to get the inhaler, and then we brought her back here. End of story. They just go on with their lives.
They are not turning her in.
Becca says it was her she was talking about yesterday. When she said you thought she was pretty. She asks if that was why they were fighting. Jay is walking away but Becca asks him why they are fighting.
She didn’t do it on purpose. Becca tries to understand that Kayla meant to hurt her. Kayla hears all the things. She breaks glasses and goes outside the house. She screams and says it wasn’t an accident. She did it on purpose. She pushed her because of him. Jay gets angry and pushes her to the wall.
Some moments later, Brit’s dad comes and he thinks his daughter is hiding in Kayla’s house to punish him because he fought with her. Britney and Kayla didn’t make it to the dance camp. Dad and Brit were fighting and she tried to run out of the house. He grabbed her and she fell.
He says when Kayla is home, she must call him. Kayla needs to call her dad to tell him that she doesn’t know where she is. But Kayla refuses to do that. Jay comes and Becca says he is an Engineer. His wife left her. They moved here like three months ago. He fought with Britney but he didn’t tell what it was about. Kayla wants to get caught.
Though she is upset and scared. They are asking her to lie for the rest of her life. They are gonna put her in a motel for a couple of days. Then they are gonna walk her through the whole story and when she is calmer, then she can talk to him. She can be trusted to talk to him.
When they are out to go to the motel, Brit’s dad comes and asks why she didn’t call him back. He asks if she is at home but is told she is still out. Then Kayla comes out and Sam understands something fishy is going on. Jay says she is not feeling well, so you need to leave now. But he forcefully tries to talk with Kayla and hits Jay. Becca tells him to get out. He leaves threatening them he will go to the police.
Britney had a bruise on her face, he saw it. It was like he had been hit. They were fighting that morning. He said so himself. Becca says she is not doing it. He is on the station right now giving his own version of events. She will not join in this periodical lying.
They are gonna arrest her, if he does that. Becca used to work there, and requested that she talk to her friend.
Becca will not frame an innocent man. They are coming for her if they don’t do something. It can be a great weapon for them to hit his child. Becca did the worst thing that a human can do.
She goes to her friend and says that Brit’s father came by, acting strange. She thinks that he abuses her daughter. Jay comes to her daughter and says it’s the only way he can save her. She needs to do everything that they will tell her. She cuts her hand and it helps to take away the pain. None of the boys doesn’t even look at her because she is not beautiful like her.
Now Kenji will be here in a minute. She will talk to Kayla. Kayla says the bruise was on her jaw but she didn’t tell who hit her. Britney and Kayla last talked two or three days ago. When she is asked if Brit told about the relationship between her and her father, she says he got mad at her a lot, like, all the time.
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He has got a really bad temper. She told her that he hit her. She has got enough information for now. Kenji says sorry for putting her through that. Dad didn’t file a missing person, she checked. She says Jay is going through a midlife crisis after the divorce. But he has changed a lot. He has been so good with Kayla and he is a very good father. Becca thanks Kenji for coming by. He asks her if he really hits her. She keeps silent, which means it’s not true.
Liar has learned from the best liar. He asks how long she has been cutting herself. She started a few months ago after he had left. Jay says sorry for not being present all those years. She says there is something wrong with her.
Kenji comes to Sam’s house. He was out all night because she was looking for her daughter. He tried to file a report but they didn’t take it seriously. She ran away before but she is a teenager.
They do this kind of thing. They ask if he loses his temper with his kid. He asks what you are trying to say. She asks if he has ever hit her daughter. He asks who they have been talking to.
They go to his house to interrogate him. Next morning, dad and daughter are playing together. Becca is going to the office. At noon, Trini gets there with all the band members. He told them to come but forgot about that.
Trini talks with Jay in private. This gig is the most important thing to them. He says he was dealing with a lot of things so he forgot. He asks her to go back because the band is waiting. She has found a bag in his car and gives it to Jay.
Jay searches for Kayla. On the other hand Kenji meets Becca, and says Dad is pretty upset and said she wouldn’t let Kayla speak with him. She says he was acting crazy that’s why she didn’t allow him to go near Kayla. The other neighbors don’t say that he has a bad temper. Brit lost her cell phone. The cell phone network has been found downtown and her husband lives downtown. That girl was pretty hot.
The way he talked Becca doesn’t like it. Kayla is walking through the road, she says she is sorry, she didn’t want to go this far. He asks what that means. She screams and comes to the house. Jay and Becca come too. Becca tells everything to Jay. He says he kept it in his car. It was a mistake.
Kayla cries and says she is a terrible person but her parents soothe her. Kenji comes around the tower. She looks around and maybe something distracts her. She comes again to Becca’s house.
They say they have found some emails from computers. They have fought over a boy named Jeremy Richards. He is Kayla’s boyfriend. She threatened to kill Britney. They know teenagers can be melodramatic.
She obviously didn’t mean it. She asks them looking straight into their eyes if Kayla was not at the Hopewell bridge that morning.
They say no.
She brings out the inhaler that she has found near the bridge. So it is now a matter of time to arrest the real killer.
The Lie Ending Explained in Details
Jay and Becca go to Sam’s house to hide the cell phone near his house. He comes out and asks where his daughter is.
Jay comes to rescue her and suffocates him, dipping his head into the water. But he is not dead. He says he knows that Kayla killed her daughter. They get into the car, he stands in front of the car. Becca hits him purposely and kills him.
They come to their house and start living their life. Next day, Britney stands in front of them. Britney wanted to see her boyfriend that’s why they planned all of it. Britney said it would be funny if Kayla pretended to push her.
So it was all of her plan and her plan has caused death to her father. Kayla wanted to tell the truth to them but when she noticed it brought her parents together, she didn’t want to be alone again.
Why Did She Call Kayla a Spoiled Brat?
She is nothing but a spoiled brat because you let her get away with everything. She says it because whenever she does any bad thing, her father comes to save her. Getting her father’s attention, she can do whatever her mind wants to do.
Would It Be Considered a Murder in the Ending of The Lie?
Yes, it would be. She is fifteen years old. They were arguing before it happened. So the prosecutor will say that it was intentional, with malice. That’s a second-degree murder. She even pushed her.
Why Did Jay Say Britney Was Dead?
Britney is dead because if anyone falls from the bridge she will break her neck. If she survives, she will drown. If she survives that, she will die of hypothermia.
Why Did Becca Seem So Unhappy With Jay’s Decision?
She is a lawyer. She can’t go against the law, no matter who is the criminal here. She must talk legally. But after all, she is her daughter, she can let anything happen with her little child.
Why Did Jay Say She Always Thought the Worst About Her Own Daughter?
Moms are like that. Moms are strict. She is a lawyer, she can’t allow her child to commit any crime. So she says bad things about her. Because she deserves it.
Why Did They Kill Sam in The Lie?
Detectives are ready to arrest her because all the evidence is with them but Sam still hasn’t filed any case against her so if he is dead. There is no one to charge a file. That’s why they kill him. There is a dialogue in this movie,
If you do something really bad, how do you undo it?’
There is no way to undo it, so think before you do.
