It's a tricky business to treat emotionally devastating subject matter — say, the orphans of genocidal violence — without stumbling into overwhelming horror or unrealistic cheer. The Good Lie very nearly walks the line in telling the story of four refugees from war-torn Sudan: Mamere (Arnold Oceng), Jeremiah (Ger Duany), Paul (Emmanuel Jal), and Abital (Kuoth Wiel, the group's lone female). First, it recounts the physical ordeal they endure as children: fleeing on foot before the brutal soldiers that destroyed their village and killed everyone they knew. Then it digs into the interior struggle they face as adults: wildly fortunate to have made it to America, but still haunted by what happened back home. If a measure of tasteful restraint is detectable, it serves at least to allow for the depiction of human emotion instead of the market-driven blandification of history. The result is a solid portrait of the real importance of family in the midst of upheaval. With Reese Witherspoon. (2014) — Matthew Lickona