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Nicola Peltz Beckham, a billionaire’s daughter, made a movie about abject poverty. It’s as bad as you think

Lola, whose protagonist careens from one traumatic experience to the next, doesn’t explore hardship – it exploits it

Filled to the brim with underbaked, oftentimes harmful tropes – the supportive Black best friend, a queer child meeting an unceremonious death, the virginal stripper saved by motherhood, a hypocritical Christian drunk – the film leaves one wondering what could have been achieved if any of these characters or their storylines were given as much attention as the gaffers paid to the light hitting Peltz Beckham’s cheekbones. Still, these examples managed to explore nuance in the realities of living without means in this country, whereas Peltz Beckham cosplays a disadvantaged darling, dressed up in despair drag, in a film whose message about hardship could be summed up as “pout your way out of poverty”. It is also worth noting that Nelson has donated to political candidates – Tim Scott, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump – who have supported and authored legislation and campaigned on values endangering trans and gender-nonconforming youth, children who are no different from Lola’s young Arlo.

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