Critical Condition: Liar

Liar | TVNZ 1, 8.45 Sunday

➢ “Liar is the sort of psychological thriller that will leave you lying awake in bed, turning over the evidence in your mind and trying to get at the truth – even though the answer remains elusive. Was Joanne Froggatt’s character Laura Nielson actually raped? Or is Ioan Gruffudd’s Dr Andrew Earlham actually innocent? But while this new ITV drama from The Missing’s screenwriting duo Jack and Harry Williams will keep audiences guessing about who the ‘Liar’ really is, in a broader sense there are no surprises here.” — Radio Times.

➢ “It was slick, layered and, in being centred on two people’s wildly different recollections of sexual intercourse, did a deft job in keeping us stumped as to whose version is correct.” — The Times.

➢ “It certainly points up the true seriousness of rape and the problems of exacting justice fro so many victims, depressingly so indeed … Apart from sitting through some traumatic and upsetting scenes, you are also drawn into a sort of quasi-judicial process, weighing up the evidence as it emerges, disappears and re-emerges, pushing you towards one conclusion, then another. It’s highly effective, at any rate, and, on this evidence, the Williams brothers have plenty more thrills to deliver.” — The Independent.

➢ “It’s all moderately gripping, I suppose. The performances are workmanlike, and the mood suitably tricksy. But I still feel uneasy with rape being used like this, as a mere cog in the suspenseful wheels of what will doubtless turn out to be a highly elaborate plot.” — New Statesman.

➢ “How many ways can a crime procedural go wrong? The counting gets distracting with Liar, a Scottish-set miniseries about sexual assault whose good intentions are sunk by ludicrous reveals and ultimately self-diminishing storytelling … Neither consistently responsible nor transportingly engrossing, Liar ends up undermining its admirable aims with a series of preposterous twists and characterisations.” — The Hollywood Reporter.