Director: Isher Sahota
What happens when the version of yourself your family relies on turns out to be built on decades of secrets? "The Effects of Lying," directed by Isher Sahota, sits inside that question for its full 86 minutes.
What is The Effects of Lying about?
On the surface, the central figure is exactly what he appears to be: a steady husband, an attentive father, someone whose household runs on routine and reliability. That surface holds until a string of long-buried secrets starts surfacing at once, forcing him into conversations he has spent years avoiding. Rather than building toward a single twist, the film moves through the fallout in stages, letting each family member absorb the news differently and react on their own timeline. Comedy threads through the drama in unexpected places, since the film treats the unraveling as messy and occasionally absurd rather than purely tragic, which keeps the tone from settling into straightforward melodrama.
Cast & crew
Ace Bhatti carries the central role, playing a man forced to reconcile the identity his family knows with the one he's kept hidden. Laila Rouass, Lauren Patel, and Navin Chowdhry make up the family navigating the aftermath, while Shaheen Khan and Mark Williams round out the ensemble.
Context & significance
Released in 2023 out of the United Kingdom, the film draws on a British-South Asian household setting to ground its story of secrecy and reckoning in specific cultural detail rather than generic domestic drama. Its 86-minute runtime stays tight, favoring a handful of pointed family scenes over a sprawling ensemble structure, which suits a story built around one man's unraveling rather than a wide cast of subplots.
Where & how to watch
"The Effects of Lying" is available on K-Time with Persian-dubbed audio alongside the original English track. The film's page is free to read for anyone; watching the movie itself only requires logging into a free K-Time account. K-Time's browsing experience, search, and recommendations are all designed around Farsi-speaking audiences.