The film begins with social media posts and footage of Millane's overseas travels in South America and New Zealand.

The documentary than shifts to police interview tapes of Kempson's interrogation by a male detective as well as local media coverage of Millane's disappearance.

When confronted with photographic evidence of him wheeling a suitcase into his building around 8 am, Kempson later revises his story to claim that Millane died by accidentally after the two had "rough sex."

A blurb states that Kempson was convicted of eight further charges against a former partner including unlawful sexual connection, threatening to kill, and assault with a weapon in October 2020.

The film blurb ends with statistics about the use of the rough sex defence in domestic violence and murder cases in the United Kingdom.

[4] Coan took a victim-centric approach to the case, with the documentary focusing on the themes and issues of gender violence, social attitudes, abusive behaviour and Kempson's rough sex defence.

"[12] Jessica Weale of Good Magazine praised The Lie for challenging the "rough sex" defence use in cases of violence against women.

Weale wrote: "By challenging this narrative and advocating for its ban, the documentary confronts society with the uncomfortable truth behind such claims and their detrimental impact on justice and accountability.