Forbidden Lies

Stories of literary hoaxes are generally juicy: Think of JT Leroy or Herman Rosenblat’s recent Holocaust tale, Angel at the Fence. But Norma Khouri’s book about the honor killing of a Muslim friend, Forbidden Love, was exposed as fake in 2004—which makes this doc yesterday’s news. While Anna Broinowski began the project in an attempt to clear Khouri’s name, the director clearly changes her mind as events unspool. Various friends-turned-enemies, journalists and experts are questioned, but the psychology of compulsive lying is left unexamined. In the end, watching Broinowski and Khouri’s battle of wits feels like mere rubbernecking; sometimes, it’s kinder to look away.