Deceiver on AllMovie

Walter Wayland (Tim Roth) has lead a life that many would envy. The heir to a fortune, he was educated at Princeton and then took over the family textile mill. Why then is he sitting before detectives Kennesaw (Michael Rooker) and Braxton (Chris Penn) taking a polygraph test to prove himself innocent of cutting a streetwalker in half? This stylish psychological thriller from twin writer/directors Jonas and Joshua Pate, explores the answer. Firstly Wayland is not as stable as he seems. Addicted to absinthe and suffering from epilepsy, he is also a compulsive liar who occasionally lapses into strange fits where he becomes zombie-like and violent. He also periodically loses his memory. Despite his obstacles, Wayland is a smart cookie. Knowing that the interrogators disbelieve his innocence, he does a little research to learn their weak points and secrets. Chief among the skeletons in their closet are their ties with Elizabeth (Renee Zellweger), the victim, and with a female mobster named Mook. The result is a mental game of cat-and-mouse between the accused and his accusers that culminates in violence.