What a joy it is to come across great talent. In that respect, this very well may be a breakout year for filmmaker Michelle Savill. The New Zealand writer/director’s debut comedy/drama, Millie Lies Low, garnered plenty of attention on the festival circuit. The story, based on her own experience, tracks Millie, a would-be architect (Ana Scotney), whose bout with anxiety finds her morphing into a social-media bragger. Millie resorts to posting fake content until she figures out her life, which is suddenly in free fall. That may be so 21st century, but Savill’s keen insights into the human condition and impact of anxiety creates a compelling and charming tale worthy of our attention.
“A lot of my work, like this film, is inspired by personal experiences,” shared Savill. “I was heading to a festival in France for a short film I’d made, Ellen Is Leaving. The New Zealand Film Commission was paying me to go, and I missed the flight. I showed up on the wrong day. The counter person told me to buy another ticket and that it was going to cost three grand. I didn’t have that money, so I just had a complete meltdown and thought, ‘I’m going to have to pretend I’m in France for three weeks, because I’m just so ashamed that this happened.’”
With some tweaks, that became the premise of Millie Lies Low. Michelle Savill opened up more about the film and her own experiences in this exclusive MovieWeb interview.
Lie Low, Fly High
Thus far, audiences have been charmed by how Millie Lies Low unfolds. Think of it as a second cousin to The Perks of Being a Wallflower with an indie film slant. Ana Scotney owns the role of Millie in a film that strikes a universal chord. Here, Millie has a panic attack at the Wellington airport and disembarks from the plane before it takes off to New York City.
It’s meant to be a life-changing trip, to be sure, as the architecture internship Millie landed was highly competitive. Fraught with worry, she begins posting fake content on social media — from airplane views and more — and continues digging herself deeper into a hole. If only she can generate enough cash to book another flight to New York.
“There’s a variety of reasons we do things like that, but for me, it was just wanting to appear successful,” Savill noted. “I had quite bad anxiety, impostor syndrome, and feeling like a fraud, and not wanting to be discovered for the fraud I thought I was. I just wanted people to like me and be accepted into the community. On an even deeper level, it’s kind of an instinct to survive, to stay with the pack, and feel safe.”
Any doubts about that last statement? Head to Instagram and TikTok and see what you find there. “A bit of my own past came into this film with the fact that I grew up in the Philippines as a missionary kid, and there’s quite a deep loss of face in the culture,” she added. “A lot of that was put ‘onto’ me to, you know, not embarrass myself and definitely not embarrass my family.”
No doubt Millie Lies Low hits the right notes as both a satire and social commentary about today’s social-media-drenched culture. Filtering everything through Millie in this film, Savill was able to capture a unique character and pressing circumstances most people could relate to.
“I wanted to explore why had I felt such a deep sense of shame and loss of face,” said Savill of creating the project, which she co-wrote with Eli Kent. “I wanted to explore that psychology, and when I shared what I had done with some friends, they had done similar things. I thought, ‘Well, this could be the kernel of a character for a film who actually does that, and why does she do it, and where does the lie take her?’ So that that was how it came about.”
Millie Lies Low, which was an official SXSW selection, has been nominated for several awards at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival. When asked what she felt audiences were most surprised by when experiencing the film, Savill said: “They seemed surprised at the mixed feelings they feel toward Millie. They both love her and also want to scream at her. We feel such conflicting emotions for the character and what she does.
“I also think the twists and turns really surprised people,” added Savill. “I often get told how unexpected the film was, and how it goes to places audiences couldn’t predict. Hopefully, people will be surprised by the balance of comedy and drama throughout, and how on the edge of the seats they are during the whole film.”
Millie Lies Low opens theatrically on June 30 in New York City, followed by a wider theatrical and VOD release later this year.
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