Lola Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Lola Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 24, 2024

Low budget sci-fi has its own built in challenges that enterprising filmmakers need to overcome, though in that regard it's kind of hilarious to hear on the commentary track included on this disc how paying to license "Space Oddity" by Bowie and "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks was no ultimate bank breaker, but trying to do the same with the venerable "Que Sera, Sera" proved to be a bridge (loan?) too far. The recently reviewed Monolith took a micro budgeted approach toward sci-fi by offering virtually no special effects and only one on screen character, whereas Lola enters the "little to no money" fray courtesy of a "found footage" element that probably helped to elide production design and cinematography hurdles, since the story is told via supposed historic reels only recently discovered in 2021. This found footage aspect doesn't actually end up working all of the time, since some of the footage that was supposedly found would seem not to be the "home movies" of sisters Thomasina (Emma Appleton) and Martha (Stefanie Martini), something that the bulk of the footage more comfortably supposedly employs. The interesting if not completely fleshed out plot hinges on the sisters' invention of a device in the late 1930s called Lola that allows them to receive radio and television broadcasts from the future, something that initially kind of improbably introduces them to David Bowie, but which later ends up providing them with a "prophetic" ability to help the Allied cause in World War II. Suffice it to say that it's not nice to fool Mother Nature, or whoever is in charge of navigating the vagaries of time, and probably unsurprisingly the sisters' efforts end up causing unexpected ripples in the space time continuum.

Co-writer and director Andrew Legge does a rather admirable job of offering a surprisingly believable ambience for what is in essence a shaggy dog story that ends up being as my colleague Brian Orndorf alluded to in his review of the film one part Zelig, and one part Forrest Gump, at least presentationally after none other than Adolf Hitler ends up interacting (more or less anyway) with the sisters. That said, as much as the putative "time travel" element is smartly executed (sometimes in a rather sinister if funny way), the real emphasis here may actually be on the relationship between Martha, who goes by Mars, and Thomasina, who goes by Tom, especially after a couple of British soldiers who find out about LOLA get involved.

There's a lot of rather provocative content in Lola, but a larger budget and/or a more developed screenplay may have helped to concretize a story that is outlandish but which may never quite reach the mind bending heights it's aiming for. Still, this is audacious and interesting filmmaking, and it certainly provides yet another example of ultra low budget science fiction tinged production acuity. Brian's review linked to above provides a bit more of a plot summary for those interested, though Brian was evidently not as fond of the film as I am.

Lola Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lola is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Dark Sky Films and Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. There's some really interesting information courtesy of Andrew Legge on the commentary track about some of the different cameras and stocks that were utilized, including some little tidbits like how Legge would allow light to interact with the film to "distress" its appearance. And in fact Legge goes into some detail about other "distressing" techniques he utilized, all of which may hint at the fact that Lola is an intentionally lo-fi, gritty and badly damaged viewing experience. That in turn means most of the aspects we tend to cover in reviews can be highly variant, including clarity, detail levels and grain structure. Everything from scratches to emulsion bubbles to warping to unstable frames (often combined with "jiggly cam" handheld moves) all combine to make this a decidedly less than glossy experience, but that said, the transfer certainly seems true to its source(s).

Lola Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lola features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The surround track nicely opens up a number of elements, including the near hallucinatory overlay of dialogue and sounds that begins the film, but also some of the source cues, including those "affordable" items mentioned above. There's other original music as well, all of which sounds nicely full bodied. Both interior scenes when Lola is active as well as quite a bit of outdoor material provide opportunities for well placed ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Lola Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Co-Writer / Director Andrew Legge and Produce Alan Maher


• The Making of Lola (HD; 5:49)


• Outtake - Remember Tomorrow (HD; 3:18)


• Short Films by Andrew Legge

  The Girl With the Mechanical Maiden (2012) (HD; 15:51)

  
  

  The Unusual Inventions of Henry Cavendish (2005) (HD; 16:24)

• Trailer (HD; 1:52)

Lola Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lola plays at times kind of like a student exercise, though it's obvious in this case the "student" has a certain technical facility and some serious writing chops. Lola probably would have benefited from a more fulsome budget and more fleshed out screenplay, but it's a rather fascinating riff on time travel paradoxes and that oft quoted maxim about being careful what you wish for. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.