LOLA

LOLA (2023) is a faux-archival science-fiction drama worth watching online on iFILM. In England on the eve of the Second World War, two music-obsessed sisters build a machine in their family home that pulls radio and TV broadcasts straight out of the future.

At first Thomasina and Martha (Emma Appleton and Stefanie Martini) just listen to songs no one has written yet. Then war breaks out and their invention becomes a weapon: intercepted reports from tomorrow let British intelligence stay a step ahead of Luftwaffe raids. One mistake, though, bends the timeline — and the future they've been spying on starts rewriting itself in front of them.

Director Andrew Legge shoots the whole thing as scratched, grainy black-and-white footage, as if someone unearthed a reel of 1940s home movies. It runs a tight 79 minutes and leans on a clever premise and real dread rather than effects, with a score by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. A treat for anyone who likes smart, low-budget sci-fi and alternate history. Stream LOLA (2023) online on iFILM.