'White Lies' Lands a December Release Date on Sundance Now

It's been almost two years since we first reported Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) would lead the South African crime thriller White Lies. At the time, the news came not long after the debut of the South African mystery series Recipes for Love & Murder on Acorn TV; it seemed to herald a new production market for the small niche streamers who have struggled to compete for U.K. shows. However, months came and went with no updates. The show premiered in South Africa, Israel, and Australia in early 2024, yet there was no hint of the series coming stateside. But finally, Sundance Now (not Acorn!) has announced it will stream White Lies starting in December 2024.

Dormer's role is slightly different than most police procedurals fronted by women detectives usually found on Acorn TV, so perhaps that's why the series went to Sundance instead. She plays Edie Hansen, an investigative journalist who spends much of her time at odds with the professionals running the investigation, led by DCI Forty Bell (Brendon Daniels). The series is billed as “an urgent exploration of race and privilege, inequality and identity,” issues the post-apartheid nation still struggles with today.

Daniels, an award-winning South African actor, isn't well known in the States; pairing him up with Dormer like this will hopefully help raise his profile over here, along with the rest of the South African-born cast, most of whom will be new faces for Sundance viewers. (One can also hope the series transfers to one of the other sister streaming services, like another under-watched Sundance series, Domino Day, will do, premiering on ALLBLCK in December.) 

There's no American trailer for the series as yet, so here's the Australian one from when it streamed on Stan in April 2024.

Here's the series synopsis:

Set in the wealthy neighborhood of Bishopscourt in Cape Town, South Africa, investigative journalist Edie Hansen gets caught up in the ugly underbelly beneath the city's picturesque beauty, dragging her back to her turbulent past. Following her estranged brother’s murder in his luxury home, Edie’s world plunges deeper into chaos when her brother’s teenage children become prime suspects for the crime. As Edie investigates, she finds herself at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell. She grapples with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system, and the secretive world of extreme Cape wealth.

Dormer and Daniels will be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Langley Kirkwood (Leonardo), Morgan Santo (The Watch), Daniel Schultz (The Mitchin Murders), Caely-Jo Levy (The Shakedown), Jane de Wet (The Great War), Daniah De Villiers (London Calling), Katlego Lebogang (Spinners), Robert Hobbs (The Power), Daniel Janks (Dam), and Athenkosi Mfamela (Knuckle City).

Sean Steinberg (Bedford Wives) created the series, and Darrel Bristow-Bovey (Hopeville) penned all eight episodes. Directors John Trengove (The Wound), Catharine Cooke (The River), Christiaan Olwagen (Recipes for Love & Murder), and Thati Pele (Blood & Water) split helming duties, and Jake Riddell produced. Dormer and Bristow-Bovey are listed as executive producers, alongside Harriet Gavshon and Nimrod Geva for Quizzical Pictures.

White Lies debuts on Sundance Now and AMC+ with a two-episode premiere on Thursday, December 5, 2024; it will stream one episode a week every Thursday through mid-January 2025.