Lola (2022)

A relatively low-budget and low-key sci-fi movie, Lola is an interesting way to riff on the whole “butterfly effect” that has featured in many a time-travel tale. I knew I had to see this as soon as I started hearing about it. I was very eager. I was optimistic. I was wrong.

It’s all about two sisters, Thomasina (Emma Appleton) and Martha (Stefanie Martini), who end up reaping the benefits of an invention, the titular LOLA, that allows them to view moments broadcast from the future. The year is 1940, war is breaking out and about to encroach upon their lives, but the girls are able to enjoy future treats such as the amazing music of David Bowie. It’s when they realise that they can use the machine to help end the war early that the sisters start to get into trouble though, setting off a chain of events that might be impossible to undo.

The feature debut from director Andrew Legge, this is perfectly in line with ideas he has been exploring for the past 15+ years, with most of his short films focusing on interesting inventions and/or manipulation of time. Having co-written this script with Angeli Macfarlane (who has a very different filmography back catalogue), Legge appears to have made his first feature without being quite up to the task. The brief runtime - it clocks in at just under 80 minutes - still feels overlong, there are numerous times when the plot feels as fragile as water-soaked paper, and the ending . . . well, I may have missed a minor detail, but it seemed to rely on a massive happy coincidence (someone tuning in to an exact moment being broadcast from one exact place).

While the opening scenes feel unique and visually striking, with everything being shown in black and white film that has been shot by amateurs making some home movies, even that soon becomes more of a chore than a delight. As later footage starts to feel a bit cleaner, and less authentic, viewers may start to wonder why Legge didn’t mix in some various stylistic choices.

Appleton and Martini both do fine in their roles, I guess, but it is hard to appreciate them as their characters are forced to change so severely between the start and end of the film. Neither are given quite enough to work with, and the film becomes weaker when they start to spend less time together (which happens far too early in the runtime). Rory Fleck Byrne plays a main supporting character, but he is allowed to show all the personality of a postage stamp, which makes me reticent to compliment or condemn his performance. He’s not very good, but he’s even more hampered by the material than either of the leads.

I still admire what Legge tried to do here, and I wouldn’t be averse to him trying again, perhaps with much more time spent on the script and an idea of how to subtly move from the crudity of the “amateur footage” to a more polished style underlining the unfolding horror of the second half. This doesn’t work as well as it should, but I will always give more kudos to an interesting failure than a lazy cash-grab. Lola didn’t work for me, falling apart quite quickly after an impressive start, but it’s certainly an interesting failure.

4/10

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Mubi Monday: Make Up (2019)

Whether intentional or not, writer-director Claire Oakley has made an interesting comparison here between relationships and small seaside holiday areas in the UK. You can spend so long looking forward to your mini-break that the fantasy becomes something almost impossible for the reality to match. And when you are there, perhaps having to put up with some typically bad British weather in between days of sea and sunshine, it’s all too easy to start thinking about other possibilities. People keep striving for an ideal, it’s what they have in mind, but that can stop them from enjoying what they already have. On the other hand, the seaside holiday area cannot expect to keep people happy if it just sits there, being a seaside holiday area with minimal effort made to retain some of the magic it once had.

Molly Windsor plays Ruth, a young woman who heads along to visit her boyfriend, Tom (Joseph Quinn). They’ve been in a relationship for a little while already, but this is their first time really sharing one another’s space. There is that “honeymoon period” glow for them, but it soon starts to fade. While working at the holiday site, Ruth befriends Jade (Stefanie Martini), someone Tom warns her to stay away from.

Having helmed a number of shorts over the past few years, Oakley comes to her feature debut with a vision and confidence that many other film-makers would do well to emulate. This may feel like a character study, and it is, but it is also a look at the phases of a relationship, the ways in which people can either move closer together or further apart while floating together in the rocky waters of what they hope could be a worthwhile love.

Both Windsor and Quinn are excellent in their lead roles, very effective at portraying two young people who aren’t sure quite how to act when their relationship ideals are tested by reality. Martini is easily on the same level as them, a wonderful lightning rod, shining brightly while becoming potentially dangerous for anyone who gets close enough. Theo Barklem-Biggs had a small, antagonistic, role, and there are a couple of very small, but solid, turns from Lisa Palfrey and Elodie Wilton.

Subtle and quiet without being too bleak, Make Up is actually a more uplifting film than any summary or review might lead you to believe. It is about someone finding happiness, despite the fact that it takes them a while to find out what their happiness really feels like. Moving from the straightforward reality depicted to one or two moments that use an air of surrealism to add some more cinematic elements, with one highlight mixing eroticism and horror in an unsettling and intriguing way, this is the kind of film that makes you excited to have discovered it. So don’t just take my word for it, go and discover it for yourself.

9/10

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