The Four Faced Liar

Plot

Set in New York City spanning six or seven months, Greg (Daniel Carlisle) has just moved in with his girlfriend Molly (Emily Peck). During their first night out since moving in together, Greg and Molly go out for drinks and a meal at a local bar, called The Four-Faced Liar. There, they meet Trip (Todd Kubrak), his girlfriend Chloe (Liz Osborn), and his lesbian friend Bridget (Marja Lewis Ryan). Molly and Bridget bond as they discuss Wuthering Heights and relationships. Molly tells Bridget that she has everything in common with her boyfriend, but Greg lacks passion. Bridget tells Molly that she doesn't have a girlfriend because no one can hold her interest for long enough to bother. Bridget is in fact flatmates with Trip where they always get up at the same time every morning and they both brush their teeth together while standing in front of the bathroom mirror.

Trip and Greg bond over drinking beers and smoking joints on the roof of Trip's apartment building. Trip soon shows concern with Greg over Molly spending more and more time with Bridget and he reminds Greg that Bridget is a lesbian. Greg tells Trip that he is getting worked up for nothing.

One evening around Halloween, Trip annoys Chloe by blowing off a ballet performance to watch sports. She takes Bridget in Trip's place to watch the show. However, Trip wins Chloe back with a candlelit apology, her favorite dessert, and a self-deprecating dance.

After coming home from the holidays early, Chloe catches Trip having sex with a random girl and she finally leaves him. That same night, Greg drunkenly tries to force an uninterested Molly into sex. She leaves him to stay with Bridget until he apologizes. the next day, Greg did just that and apologized.

At a New Years Eve party at the bar, Molly laments to Bridget that she has never been thrown up against a wall and kissed. In the restroom, Bridget does just that when she follows Molly in, and the pair has breathless sex for the first time in the year's final moments. Afterward, both Molly and Bridget appear shocked by their own actions; Bridget asks Molly to come home with her, but Molly rejects her. Molly heads out to be with Greg. Later that night, Molly follows Bridget home after putting Greg to bed and starts a secret affair with Bridget. (A montage is shown over the next few weeks as Molly's bond with Bridget grows stronger: they walk arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand along the street as well as make out with each other in private and in public, from Bridget's bed, to her sofa, at a park, on the street, and in a concrete underpass.) The next morning, Chloe enters Bridget's room to gather some stuff and finds a very naked Molly in bed with her after another night of lovemaking, Chloe openly expresses her disapproval and disappointment with Molly and her infidelity. Trip briefly enters the room but quickly left in shock by what he's seen. And after finding out what went on between Molly and Bridget, he reports it to Greg, who takes the news calmly and forgives his girlfriend because "she's worth it." Molly then breaks off her romance with Bridget and announces that she is marrying Greg.

A few days later at Molly's birthday party at the bar, Trip attempts to woo Chloe back, while Bridget shows up and presents her case to Molly with a simple, "I like you." Greg sees Bridget outside the bar and he confronts her by asking how she pleases Molly in bed better than he. The angry and jealous Greg finally loses his temper and throws Bridget up against a car over her presence at the party. When Chloe and Molly realize that both Greg and Bridget are missing, they all run outside where Trip pulls Greg off of Bridget who wanders off while Chloe follows and tries to comfort her.

As the film comes to an end, Molly ends her engagement with Greg, who moves out and back to his hometown. Molly then visits Bridget to report Greg leaving her and both women lie in bed side by side, staring at the ceiling. Bridget tells Molly that she's totally keeping her interested and that she's trying to be the one Molly wants. Then she questions the look on Molly's face, to which Molly responds with the look indicates love. Bridget cries a little of not able to say anything back. The final shot shows both of them continuing to stare at the ceiling, each speculating their next move. However, their facial expressions tell more than words ever will. Bridget's expression is one of entering unexplored territory (i.e., that of love). Molly's expression is one of self-doubting as she has fully committed to living a full-on lesbian life very different from that she has ever experienced.

Cast

Additional information

Winner of 2010 HBO Audience Award for Best First Feature Film (Outfest), Winner of 2010 Roger Walker-Dack award for Emerging Artist (Marja-Lewis Ryan),

Official Selection: Slamdance Film Festival, Newport Beach International Film Festival, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Provincetown Film festival, deadCenter Film Festival, Pink Apple Film Festival, New York LGBT Film Festival, Frameline, Tokyo LGBT Film Festival, Outfest, Philadelphia QFest, North Carolina LGBT Film Festival, and Atlanta Film Festival.

MTV/Viacom/Logo owns the broadcast rights. Wolfe Media owns the North American DVD/VOD rights. Multivisionaire is the film's foreign sales agent. TLA owns the UK rights.