LOL
2012 · Directed by Lisa Azuelos
Original language: English
- drama
- comedy
- romance
The story
In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne, "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown.
What it’s like
Bright, glossy digital frames of Parisian apartments, suburban kitchens and teen bedrooms, with phone screens glowing and text messages sliding across the image as a constant overlay, give LOL a busy, of-the-moment surface. The camera stays close and handheld in the school corridors and at parties, while quieter scenes between mother and daughter settle into conventional two-shots in warm lamplight and daylight through kitchen windows. The score is pop-forward, bouncing synth and guitar tracks that make the tone feel breezy even when the scenes turn sharp. The vibe is light, chatty and bittersweet, with a sweet-tempered comedy running alongside a mother-daughter rift, and it suits a lazy afternoon, a comfort rewatch, or something easy on a long-haul flight. Pacing is brisk and episodic, and the emotional arcs follow a teenager testing boundaries and a mother trying, awkwardly, to close the distance. Intensity is low: mild profanity, sexual talk and innuendo, teen drinking and kissing, and a few emotional blowups, with no real violence or gore. It is for viewers who want a warm, funny, rom-com-adjacent look at adolescence and parenting without anything harrowing.
More films like LOL
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved LOLand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
