Sleeping Dogs (Never Lie) 1978

The film follows a man named Smith who, after his marriage falls apart due to his wife’s affair, seeks quiet refuge on a remote Coromandel Peninsula island owned by a Māori tribe. On this secluded speck of land, the political tensions gripping the nation—driven by an oil embargo and an escalating energy crisis—barely touch the everyday rhythms of island life, where Smith and his loyal dog drift through days with minimal contact with the outside world. The atmosphere is patient and observant, with the island’s simple routines offering a counterpoint to the turmoil tearing apart the mainland.

The narrative gains gravity when a bomb detonates in a nearby town, and police arrive on the island to arrest Smith, accusing him of harboring illegal weapons. A search uncovers a cache of explosives that Smith did not realize he possessed, and he is taken to a police station for interrogation and torture. The interrogators press him to confess, hinting that he is a central figure in a guerrilla network and proposing exile from New Zealand in exchange for cooperation, or the looming threat of a military tribunal and a death sentence. Throughout these scenes, the tension rests on Smith’s defiance and the moral ambiguity of a man caught between an existing life and a political nightmare.

During a transfer between facilities, Smith feigns illness—vomiting to mislead his captors—and seizes a chance to escape. He disappears into the countryside and slips away to a small campground where life seems almost peaceful again. His sense of escape is short-lived, however, as a United States Army unit arrives to assume control of the area. Willoughby, the unit’s commander, views Smith with suspicion, suspecting him of rebel sympathies, and the pressure of the occupation weighs on the island’s already fragile balance. The arrival of Bullen, now rising as a senior leader of the underground guerrilla movement, further complicates the situation, weaving a dangerous web that pulls Smith back toward the conflict he hoped to avoid.

As the Americans press their campaign against the insurgents, Smith finds himself drawn into an attack on the military unit, a move orchestrated by Bullen that he would rather not be part of. The assault ends with a swift, deadly response from government forces, and the guerrilla fighters are forced to retreat into the surrounding forest. Smith and Bullen are separated from the others and must navigate a tense pursuit that pushes them toward a final confrontation. When government troops surround the guerrilla encampment and begin bombing, Smith and Bullen escape again, only to be cornered by Jesperson and his elite squad. In the ensuing moments, Bullen is fatally wounded, and Smith, seeking to end the cycle of violence around him, deliberately provokes Jesperson into shooting him.

Across the film, the island setting serves as a quiet, almost counterintuitive stage for a story of political violence. The landscape’s stillness highlights Smith’s yearning for a peaceful life while underscoring how swiftly that peace dissolves when forces beyond one man’s control push him back into the fray. The dog’s loyal presence punctuates scenes of isolation and recoil, serving as a small, steadfast companion amid larger, impersonal forces. The narrative moves with a restrained pace that emphasizes interior struggle as much as external action, inviting viewers to consider the costs of political conflict on ordinary lives.

In the cast, Beverly O’Neill and Pat O’Neill contribute to the film’s quiet, intimate texture, grounding the story with performances that balance restraint and resolve. The character of Smith emerges as a conflicted man whose longing for normalcy is continually tested by the surrounding upheaval, while the tension between the army’s authority and the guerrilla movement intensifies with every close call. The film’s final gesture—Smith’s choice to invite an ending on his own terms—resonates as a somber meditation on responsibility, consequence, and the elusive pursuit of peace in a world where loyalties are fractured and loyalties are tested.