Howie is a 15-year-old kid teetering on the edge of delinquency, his mother has recently died and his father, a dodgy builder, is hard pushed to keep a grip on his own life, let alone his son's. Lost and alone Howie hangs out more and more with his mates, skipping school and committing small time theft, it is while in the middle of one of these robberies that the boys meet Big John, a mysterious and ominous character. When the few emotional bonds that Howie has left desert him only Big John is left to provide the lad with the parental figure he so desperately needs but does the older man provide redemption or will he prove to be Howie's nemesis. L.I.E. is a full on tour de force by first time director Michael Cuesta, utterly absorbing, intense and haunting.