Lotawana follows Forrest, a free-spirited twenty-something who lives in a sailboat on a lake, and Everly, a social misfit who becomes enchanted with Forrest's non-conforming lifestyle..but before long they're confronted with realities that cause them to question themselves, each other, society, and their place within it.
Have you ever found yourself wondering if it's everyone else who's crazy, or if it's just you?...or like you can't tell if it's society that is holding you back, or if it's all your own doing because you're just not cut out for it?...or maybe you don't even have a firm grasp on what it is you're being held back from? Are you really a non-conformist out of choice, or is it more like a defense mechanism that you've concocted to delude yourself into thinking you don't want the things that you are unable or unwilling to obtain?
Lotawana is about the disillusioned and the disaffected, the uncertain and the worrisome, the perfectly imperfect strugglers just trying to figure out how to get by. These endlessly relatable themes are explored through two immensely believable characters, whose natural chemistry makes you forget that you're watching a film, not peering into the lives of two real people.
And it simply cannot be understated...this film is gorgeous. Watch it, if for no other reason, to treat yourself to an hour-and-a-half of pure eye candy. In Jordan Peele's "Get Out", a character praises the photographer-protagonist for having "the eye" - that special X factor where one just somehow knows how to frame a subject in an elegant, aesthetically pleasing way - whether it be a person, a place, a setting, or even an idea itself - to be able to dispense with all the tired and unoriginal and cumbersome and expository dialogue and words, words, words..and craft images that speak for themselves.
Whatever "the eye" is...Trevor Hawkins has it.
Everything about it is just so damn...competent...and not in the facetious "achieves bare minimum" way in which that word is often used, but in the sense that it all comes across so natural and well-considered. The way the film handles suspense and shock, poetic irony and hubris...how the film emphasizes visual storytelling and has a purpose for even the most minor of shots, even if it doesn't become apparent until later. The scenes meant to sink your emotions weigh you down. The pacing is fluid. The (completely original) musical score is lovely and apropos.
Seeing how small the production was and how solid the product is in comparison, I just have such sincere admiration for what this outrageously talented group of people accomplished. It's the sort of film that I aspire to be able to make one day.
