Millie Lies Low

Having left her boyfriend, anxiety-ridden Millie is on her way from Wellington to New York City for an unpaid internship at a prestigious architecture firm when a moment of panic causes her to miss her flight. She doesn’t have the money for another ticket, and a deep sense of shame prevents her from telling her friends and family. So instead she lies low in her hometown in order to scrounge for another ticket, while using her wits and Instagram to convince her friends, boyfriend, mum, and the world at large, that she’s successfully living the dream in NYC. With her options running out she resorts to increasingly desperate schemes as her hastily constructed facade begins to crumble.

What the critics say….

“Ana Scotney (The Breaker Upperers) plays the manic yet Machiavellian Millie in writer-director Michelle Savill’s thought exercise on the potential impact of an out-of-control shame spiral. Bound for the adventure of a lifetime…Instead, Millie suffers a panic attack and finds herself physically grounded….Savill keeps the tone upbeat, homing in on her (Millie’s) character study. From goofy grins to anxiety-ridden wide eyes, Scotney’s range and talent is clear: her comic timing and commitment to Millie’s mania are exemplary” - Tara Judah, Screen Daily

“Millie foolishly lies low but the film should stand tall given how well it captures the excruciatingly relatable tribulations of a young New Zealand woman who digs herself into a very deep hole while attempting to preserve other peoples’ expectations” - Jay Weissberg, The Film Verdict

“Millie Lies Low – ingenious satire of career-faking on social media… Savill, who co-wrote with Eli Kent, sets her stall out with a perfectly plausible satire on online fakery, and the tawdry reality behind the idealised, globalised lifestyle to which so many aspire. But she mines something more compelling in how Millie dips almost into delusion; the excited gleam in her eyes that says she is addicted to her own fictions”. Phil Hoad, The Guardian