Nicola Peltz-Beckham’s film ‘Lola’ called “conceptually untenable” and “poverty porn” by critics

Nicola Peltz-Beckham’ film Lola has been roundly panned by critics.

The film marks her directorial debut, which she also wrote and stars in as the titular character, who is trying to get by on money from working in a drugstore and strip club while also protecting her younger brother from their alcoholic mother.

The movie’s synopsis reads: “Lola James works to save enough money to get her little brother, Arlo, out of their toxic home. Arlo keeps her hopeful, until one tragic night, when her whole world gets uprooted.

“From that moment on, nothing will ever be the same.”

The Guardian said the film is “as bad as you think” coming from a person who grew up in a billionaire household, with critic Kady Ruth Ashcraft writing: “If a nepo baby makes a laughably oblique film portraying what she must imagine to be the strife of the impoverished class, but hardly anyone watches it, will it hurt her career?”

She went on: “Peltz Beckham did achieve something with Lola: it’s called ‘poverty porn’, and in film, that means the exploitation of the conditions of poverty for entertainment and artistic recognition.”

Meanwhile, Spectrum Culture‘s Andrew Burgen wrote: “It’s not a law that directors making slice-of-life flicks must be personally familiar with the material they are depicting, but before even watching Lola, the disconnect between the dead-end world the film takes place in and Peltz-Beckham’s background stands out as jarring.

“One can’t help but feel that the project is doomed from the get-go because it is conceptually untenable.”

Peltz-Beckham is married to Brooklyn Beckham – the son of footballer David Beckham and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, who was supposed to make a cameo in the film which was later cut.

“Brooklyn is actually really upset that he did get cut from his one little cameo,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “He had one line, ‘Hi,’ but he kept saying it in a British accent and he was staring directly into the camera.”

“I was like, oh God, we have to move on, good lord. So, Brooklyn ended up on the chopping block,” she said.

The post Nicola Peltz-Beckham’s film ‘Lola’ called “conceptually untenable” and “poverty porn” by critics appeared first on NME.