Nola and the Clones – Review

Hello again everyone Kevin here with another Independent Film review from Film Fervor. Today we go over the pond again this time to the Emerald Isle (Ireland) for Nola and the Clones, Written and Directed by Graham Jones and starring Caoimhe Cassidy and Joseph Lydon. Before I get into the meat of the story and what it is about let me first say I was utterly blown away with the quality of this film. Normally when I do a Independent film review I have certain expectations on how the cinematography and sound are going to play out specially when they say the film is a Micro Budget film but with Nola and the Clones my concepts of Micro Budget films were completely thrown out the window. If this is what Graham Jones can do on a limited tight budget we can expect amazing things from him in the future.

Nola and the Clones is about a young homeless Irish girl’s (Caoimhe Cassidy) experiences on the streets of Dublin and her many encounters with Men (Joseph Lydon) all of whom share striking similarities to one another. She tells her story to each man in a different way so that you can see the hidden depths of the character and what brought her to living on the streets. Despite the name of the film the Clone’s themselves are not anything so science fiction but a in depth view on how Nola sees all men who in the end always want the same thing from her, the thing her mother groomed her to be, But she rebelled against the notion of being a perfect girl and left that life to do whatever she wanted and how she wanted to do it.

Normally I find films like this hamfisted in their delivery of the point they are trying to get across but Writer/Director Graham Jones does it with a gentle touch that makes you feel deeply connected to the character of Nola and it stops and makes you think about how to treat other people. This is helped in a large way by the outstanding acting by Caoimhe Cassidy. She delivers her lines with a professionalism I have rarely found in a Independent film and her soulful looks and facial expressions make your believe this character could be a real person living on the street. The other major standout of course is the Clones themselves all played by Joseph Lydon. Lydon’s preference was equally believable in each of his incarnations from the bored cheating husband to the exceedingly creepy final gentleman who hires Nola for a good time. It is difficult to play multiple characters in the same film so that each are similar enough to get the desired effect but also drastically different enough to show a range of aspects of the human psyche but Lydon pulls it off perfectly.

In many independent films the production values falter off to the lower end of the rating charts but with Nola and the Clones this is not the case. I actually had to stop the film near the beginning because I thought someone had made a mistake and sent Film Fervor a major production film from Hollywood or it’s British equivalent, it was that good. From the opening credits (which were expertly and professionally done) to the beautiful camera and sound never once do you feel like you are watching a micro budget film. One of my major complaints in many Independent films is the musical score that accompanies feature that just don’t seem to fit with what you are watching but again Nola and the Clones raises the bar by bring perfect music to the situations Nola is subjected to.

Around this time is where I would normally tell you the technical faults or the glaring plot holes in the film but Nola and the Clones simply does not leave anything to be desired that I can find. If you like movies that make you think about who you are and how you treat and see other people then Nola and the Clones is 84 minutes of beautifully written, directed and filmed satisfaction that I don’t hesitate to recommend.