LOLA

Lola is a arresting indie film that combines the genres of time loop and found footage to create a dual-layered story. The film follows Thom and Mars, two inventors who have created LOLA, a device that can receive radio and TV signals from the future. However, they are unaware of the dire consequences that their actions will have on the world and themselves, as they share these broadcasts with others. Lola is a compelling alternative history drama that explores the impact of our choices and the moral responsibility that comes with them. The film does not rely on flashy effects or gimmicks, but rather on the emotional resonance of the characters and the intriguing plot twists. The film it most reminded me of was Chris Marker's masterpiece, La Jetée. With winning performances and use of found footage, Lola is a film that will make you think and feel, as you witness the ripple effects of time manipulation.

After seeing the trailers online but sadly it didn't come anywhere near where I live. That it received a very limited release is such a shame as this is truly a unique, smart, entertaining and wonderfully made film which kept me glued to the screen - tv screen :(( - so much so, I forgot I was watching a film and was totally and utterly immersed. The performances are outstanding - each and every one. The direction is smart and doesn't waste a frame on filler and the atmosphere is spot on, it feels so much like war time. The special effects are worthy of any blockbuster and the script/story is tight and very clever. I like the way it is shot although I guess some people might not but if you turn it off due to that, you are making a huge mistake. I have a feeling this will achieve cult status and hopefully finds its way onto SKY and the like and then enjoys the audience it so deserves. It would be such a shame if it wasn't widely seen as, for me, it is probably the movie of the year so far and will rightly take a place in my all time favourite list. I will be watching it again very soon.

I am adding to this having read some of the reviews written since I last looked. UI'm afraid I find the negative opinions ridiculous - maybe it's just you have to have imagination, intelligence and a heart to get this movie and not be a mysoginistic halfwit who doesn't understand of you fast forward through a movie, you miss most of it... sigh.

I'll pass on all the comments both positive and negative about this film and address just one sci-fi issue that some reviewers either scoff at or enjoy, receiving future broadcasts.

Off air broadcasting seems to be deemed a thing of the past early television, given cable delivery streaming and the now almost defunct vcr, dvd etc.

But original tv broadcasting went out into the airwaves on a variety of variable a frequency transmissions. Any signal sent out theoretically would enter the atmosphere and conceivably pass into space.

Given travel at the speed required to "catch" those signals in space, any original broadcast from any time sent to air could be received in the future creating the ability to look back in time, not forward.

Mind boggle. Love sci-fi as it becomes reality more and more.

Odd little found footage film. These kinds of films tend to be a mixed bag, to put it mildly, but this one is a little bit inventive taking place in the past with two women who invent a mechanism that can see into the future and at first it's great fun. However, they then see a war coming and they interfere and it changes events as is usually the case when one plays around with time. While this is a little unusual and well acted, it's also extremely illogical, but you can have some fun with it if you don't take it too seriously. This is an ultra low budget film that has two very good female leads in Stefanie Martini & Emma Appleton who are both new to me. I also thought Rory Fleck Byrne. This is super short!

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Caught this at the 75th EIFF, very clever and inventive piece of micro-budget SF, presented almost as documentary using footage discovered in old movie reel tins in a deserted house in England, purporting to document a pair of eccentric sisters created Lola, a machine which can intercept. Broadcasts from the future. It starts as fun, but as the war comes to Britain, Lola's trajectory changes radically.

Some of the film was shot on period cameras, developed in a rougher way to give the impression of damaged old film reels, while other footage uses newsreels, edited to include characters (a la Forrest Gump) or events, while the story also brings into play the nature of personal responsibility and the potential consequences of interfering with history. In many ways it reminded me of Primer, now a cult film, which I first saw at the same film festival years ago.