Honesty isn’t always the best policy. No one wants to admit that they spent the last 20 minutes of their work day spacing out. No one wants to tell their mother that someone else’s cooking beats the living shit out of theirs. There are big lies, like cheating or stealing, but then there are the smaller lies we tell that make life a bit more bearable. Workable, even. Bearing that in mind, here is Paul Emerson’s Lie Detector, about a polygraphy-type machine employed during a memorable job interview.

I thought this was perfect. The action doesn’t feel the need to be a sweeping epic, which is refreshing – some short films try way too hard to be massive feats when they really can be done simply. The writing from stars Dane Hanson and Mike Heim is tight, and luckily, it reaches full potential because both Hanson and Heim are good in these parts. Their banter comes across as both honest and frustrated at times, and the level of deadpan snark is spot on. In some respects (sending a report, incredulous belief of facts, screwing around at your desk), this is us; in others, it’s over-the-top hilarious. The tone is great, and after a week that’s seemed a bit long for every single person I’ve talked to, it’s needed.

Happy Saturday.