SOME aspects of this fact-based story of the extraordinary odyssey of young survivors of the bloody Sudanese civil war who, against the odds, reached the US and found new lives, may seem a tad simplistic and saccharine.

So what?

Thanks to Margaret Nagle’s clever screenplay, Philippe Falardeau’s insightful direction and truthful characterisations by Sudanese survivors acting in the film, The Good Lie hits hard.

That’s particularly the case in the opening sequences, charting the bloody horrors suffered by Sudanese child survivors of militiamen who destroy their village, causing them to march hundreds of miles across hostile African plains to reach the Magnum refugee camp in Kenya. It’s a horrifying and heartbreaking watch.

But it’s alleviated as the film progresses and 13 years later we see the young adults travelling to live in the US where employment counsellor Reese Witherspoon helps them adjust to their new lives.

Despite Witherspoon’s presence, this is not a star-driven film. It’s a fact-based story that cried out to be told and it’s done so impressively.