Heartland: Always, Lola

This earnest drama about five friends dealing with the aftermath of their queen bee's overdose death plays like an overlong soap opera with an aged-out cast.

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“Always, Lola” is an overly earnest drama about a quintet of youngsters just out of high school coming together to remember their friend, the queen bee of the group, who died of a drug overdose.

Every year Lola (Roxy Striar) assembled her group for a camp-out on her birthday that culminated with her leaving presents for them hidden in the woods that would somehow comment on her relationship with each of them. Now, six months after her passing, they recluctantly gather to go through this ritual once again and hash out their various squabbles and lingering resentment over Lola’s death.

The movie is written and directed by Jeffrey Crane Graham and produced by Laura Palmer, the first feature film for both. It shows.

The film, while engaging in sections, is overlong and at times maudlin. The production values are low, which isn’t uncommon in first indie features, but lack the polish and kinetic flow of assured filmmaking. The performances aren’t bad, though the dialogue and situations they have to muddle through would strain the ability of even masterful actors to make authentic and engaging.

The premise also is shaky. It would have us believe that Lola, while increasingly strung out on cocaine and depression, still was thinking six months ahead to her next birthday celebration — even hiding the presents in waterproof containers this far in advance and writing out instructions on how to find them.

I’ve had enough experience working with people with addiction to say authoritatively that planning ahead is not their strong suit.

The other key figures are Lee (Andrew Ghai), Lola’s boyfriend, an assured jock type who is now feeling guilty about having feelings for Camila (Candice Cruz), the headstrong member of the group. Trey (Collin Campana), who counted himself as Lola’s best friend, came out as gay shortly before Lola’s death and is still processing his identity. Riggs (Sheldon White) liked getting high with Lola and is bearing the community’s ire that his drugs contributed to her death.

There’s also Lola’s twin (not identical) sister, Katherine (Corrinne Mica), who stands apart from the group and isn’t well-liked by them, or vice-versa. She was the straight-arrow yin to Lola’s wild-ways yang, and they often clashed. Now she’s bearing the responsibility for overseeing the get-together and present giveaways, and seems like she’d prefer to be anywhere else.

There will be some revelations about Lola’s demise that shake up the group’s dynamics, along with accusations and reapproachment when we least expect it. The story is structured so that each of the characters get approximately equal screen time, rather than showcasing the dramaturgy that hits hardest and shunting the duller stuff to the background.

It also must be said: even in an industry where actors routinely play roles much younger than themselves, the sell-by date on this cast to believably portray high schoolers is long, long past. Heck, when they first referred to themselves as “seniors” I thought they were talking college, and even that was a push. At least a couple seem closer to middle age than trigonometry classes.

I get it: few thespians at age 17 or 18 have the chops to act in lead feature film roles. But when you’ve got an actor with crow’s feet talking about taking a gap year before college, it pulls you right out of the movie and now you’re thinking about that instead of identifying with the characters and getting emotionally engaged with their plight.

The cognitive dissonance is… jarring.

As an odd add-in to the proceedings, there is a recurring duo known as the “Clifton Clowns,” a pair of young social media influencers who pull several pranks on the group ranging from juvenile to downright cruel. Beyond adding nothing to the story and distracting us further from the focus on relationships, why would these guys be pulling their shtick in the middle of the woods?

Like a lot of things in the story, it might sound intriguing on the page but doesn’t play on the screen.

I didn’t engage with “Always, Lola” on any kind of emotional level. Aside from a few nice moments here and there in the performances, it’s forced and amateurish — the sort of thing you’d see from a college student film. My kindest words are that I’d love to see this same cast and crew given a chance to do something else.