Nicola Peltz's directorial debut is slammed by critics as 'poverty porn'
Topics: Celebrity, News, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images/Vertical Entertainment
Topics: Celebrity, News, Film and TV
Nicola Peltz's directorial debut hasn't gone down well at all, with one viewer calling it 'genuinely laughable'.
Peltz, the wife of David and Victoria Beckham's eldest son Brooklyn, wrote, directed and starred in her movie Lola, which had a limited cinematic release in February.
The movie's synopsis reads: "Lola James (Peltz) 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."
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But, in light of the 29-year-old being the daughter of billionaire Nelson Peltz and her film being about poverty, Lola has been slammed for being 'tone deaf'.
Critics didn't hold back when sharing their reviews on the movie.
Kady Ruth Ashcraft wrote for The Guardian: "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."
Elsewhere, Andrew Burton penned for Spectrum Culture: "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."
At the time of writing, Lola boasts just 3.8/10 on IMDb.
One reviewer on the platform hailed the movie as a 'vanity project' for Peltz, as another called the film 'out of touch'.
"In no way does this film depict what the reality of drug addiction/poverty is," one person said.
"It was a genuinely laughable attempt at doing so. It was painfully obvious that the director of this film was not drawing from real life experience and knowledge.
"I recommend watching The Florida Project instead for something that actually feels somewhat authentic."
Another wrote: "As a passionate moviegoer, I had high hopes for Lola, but sadly, it fell short in almost every aspect. From the wooden acting to the terrible directing, this film left much to be desired."
Lola isn't currently streaming on any platforms, but is available to rent or buy from the likes of Amazon Prime and Apple TV+.