House of Lies Movie Review: Sanjay Kapoor's Investigative-Thriller Gives Bad Name to Both Murder-Mysteries and Cryptocurrency (LatestLY Exclusive)

House of Lies Movie Review: House of Lies is a murder mystery that aims to be the desi Knives Out. A rich man is murdered, his friends and relatives are prime suspects, and they blame each other for double-crossing and backstabbing before the real murderer is revealed. However, if you have the misfortune to watch House of Lies on Zee5, you might sue me for libel for comparing this poorly scripted, poorly directed, and poorly acted film with the Rian Johnson film. Sanjay Kapoor Shares Glimpses of His Intense Arm Day Workout Session on Insta (Watch Video).

Albert Pinto (the late Rituraj Singh) is found dead in his study. Crime Branch officer Rajveer Singh Choudhary (Sanjay Kapoor) comes to investigate his murder, assisted by local SI Abhay (Hiten Paintal). Since Albert had acquired a Rs 35 crore investment in cryptocurrency before his death, and the keycode is missing, ED officer Sashi (Simran Kaur Suri) is also involved in the investigation.

The main suspects are all his family members and friends who were present at a party hosted at his house the previous night. They include his wife Ragini (Ssmilley Suri), alcoholic brother Anthony (Girish Sharma), Anthony's wife Aastha (Taniya Chatterjee), her lawyer Karan Sinha (Jaydeep Ashra), Albert's friend Verma (Sukhangshu Chatterjee), his servant Zaid (Ajitesh Gupta), and his psychiatrist Fernandes (Mir Sarwar). All had major motives to see him dead.

Watch the Trailer of House of Lies:

The best thing about House of Lies (not to be confused with Don Cheadle's comic legal series of the same name) is that it is only one hour and 21 minutes long. The worst thing about House of Lies is that the movie is insufferable even at that length.

There's hardly anything redeemable about the film's presentation, writing, or acting. The direction is bland and vacuous, with no endeavour to engage the viewer. It also seems discordant with the writing, where the attempt to confuse us with red herrings creates forced drama that doesn't make much sense when the reveal is made. Even the investigation is conducted in a sluggish, haphazard manner with no proper procedures followed, and when Rajveer comes to his conclusion, it feels like he is plucking things out of thin air, and they turn out to be true.

Except for Rajveer, nearly all characters are annoying, including the ED officer who is more of a hindrance than an asset. The servant boy is mentioned many times as being gay, which doesn’t really matter to the plot, except to momentarily confuse me when someone questions his 'community'—for a second, I wondered if the accusation was about his religious identity or sexual orientation. Rituraj Singh Dies at 59: Did You Know Late Actor Shared Theatre Roots With Shah Rukh Khan and He Was Hailed the 'Better' Actor?

Speaking of the performances, Sanjay Kapoor needs to be lauded for showing some mild interest in the ongoings. The rest of the performances range from poor to very poor.

The central mystery revolves around cryptocurrency, but it seems like this was done to make the film appear current. Not to mention, it serves a lazy twist in the epilogue in case you still bother to stay with the movie after the killer is revealed. In that case, I ask you, dear viewer—why?

Final Thoughts on House of Lies

House of Lies is a dismal attempt at a murder mystery that fails to deliver on nearly every front. With a lacklustre script, poor direction, and forgettable performances, not even its brief runtime cannot save the film from being an insufferable watch. House of Lies is streaming on Zee5 for free.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2024 08:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).