Thomasina (“Thom”) and Martha (“Mars”) are orphaned sisters living in a remote house in the English countryside in 1941. Thom has invented a revolutionary invention nicknamed “Lola” which is able to receive video and audio transmissions from the future. At first, they just use it to listen to rock and roll innovations in the years to come, but after WWII breaks out, they begin using it to monitor news transmissions of German bombings from the near future and then covertly reporting these attacks to the British military to prevent them from happening. This results in many lives saved. Unfortunately tampering with the future can have serious ramifications. While losing the talents of David Bowie suddenly may seem like a relatively minor concern (if you think changing the entire trajectory of music history is a minor concern anyway), but when information from Lola results in the United States never joining the Allies in WWII, the entire course of world events is irrevocably changed for the worse.

Lola takes a cool idea and implements it with a nice, old-world style courtesy of director Andrew Legge whose prior vintage-fetish shorts “The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden” and “The Unusual Inventions of Henry Cavendish” (both included as extras on this disc) presaged Legge’s fascination with bringing modern concepts into classic styles. I feel like one thing we don’t get enough of are innovative alternate history stories, and Lola certainly delivers on that count. The idea of showing an alternate history where Hitler won the war isn’t a totally original idea, but the way in which Legge weaves the story using specific details of the future to impact the present and featuring compelling lead characters in Thom and Mars sets it apart as something unique and special. The film isn’t without flaws though. I think the main issue impeding Lola from becoming a genuine cult classic sci-fi film is that its budget limitations do show at times, disrupting the illusion of creating another time and place. Also there is a part of my brain that gets annoyed with “butterfly effect”-style time travel films with unexplained paradoxes. Despite all that, the film does a remarkable of job integrating historical stock footage into the new footage by walking backwards and matching the new to the old. Plus who doesn’t enjoy a jazzy big band rendition of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”?

Severin’s new hi-def scan of this film looks very nice. The film is intentionally shot in a very lo-fi style to match against the stock footage included. So expect lots of intentional grain. As far as representing the image as clearly as possible, Severin has delivered on that count. On the audio front, we have a 5.1 and Stereo track. Neither are going to give your system a major workout but the 5.1 track does provide some additional depth that enhances the viewing experience. For extras, first up we have a very informative commentary track with co-writer/director Andrew Legge as well as producer Alan Maher. Legge especially provides lots of interesting details around the production and inspirations on how the idea was conceived. Also included is a “Making of Lola” featurette that isn’t super in-depth but does have some nice info on how they were able to blend the new footage with the existing historical footage. Also included is an outtake as well as two of director Legge’s prior short films, both of which are quite imaginative and well-executed.

It’s always refreshing to come across a sci-fi film with a novel approach that actually sticks the landing, and Lola is an intelligent and thought-provoking alternate history thriller sure to please fans of indie science fiction.