Movie Review: Lola
Lola is a fictional story based on a young adult female challenged with everyday life struggles such as being a lesbian, having an unstable relationship with her father, and no stable income.
Disapproval of her lesbian relationship and prior turmoil in the father-daughter relationship leads her dad to make an impulsive decision to kick her out of the house.
Lola’s life gets even more complicated when she’s out one night with friends and gets raped by a stranger at the club. The traumatic event leads her to enroll in a self-defense class, which eventually evolves into boxing.
Her inner motives for being a boxer emerge from memories or rape and stem from her father’s love of the sport.
The movie follows Lola’s journey to becoming a champion, not only in the realm of boxing but overcoming all of the challenges she faces in her everyday life.
Boxing is the perfect symbolism for connecting the viewer to the various themes portrayed in the film. It’s a hidden link for building a stronger relationship with her father, empower Lola for growing as a woman, and also provides a way for potentially overcoming financial struggles in the future.
Lola’s father has a deep love for boxing – we learn the fact from a subtle scene where boxing is playing in the background on tv; conversational hints from Lola when considering to pursue the sport; and also a turn of events when we discover a connection of a past relationship between her father and the gym owner.
The passion that Lola shows for the sport ultimately draws her father in to find that there are things he can appreciate about his daughter.
Boxing starts as a way to get self-defense from the rape incident, but sheds light on the various abusive relationships that Lola endures, including from her father and partner.
The training process is symbolic of building up the strength to face her biggest struggles in life and remain true to who she is and looking out for her well-being.
The film serves a role to shed light on incidents that are typically unspoken of but frequently occur to women. From physical abuse in relationships or assault to mental abuse of thinking, they cannot fulfill specific roles in society.
Lola does an excellent job of capturing the ideas in a cohesive storyline and a well-produced film.
Lola is screened as part of the 2020 American Black Film Festival (ABFF).
The 94-minute film is directed by Antoine Allen, Written by Antoine Allen, Gregg DaCosta, and Julia Aaryn Martinez.
