Today, we have two movies that would fall under familiar film genres. But I’ll salute them for daring to be different and bringing something fresh.

LOLA (Amazon Prime on Demand) - Here is an Indie film from Ireland and England that has the self-awareness to try and be different, even if saddled with a small budget. The premise is one of sci-fi, but with a found footage concept that plays it differently, utilizing newsreels from the 1940s and CGI to create new, familiar, stark, and daring footage. At the center of the narrative are two sisters, Thomasina (Emma  Appleton) and her younger sister, Martha (Stefanie Martini). Living in some Kent estate in the 1940s, they invent a contraption, LOLA, that intercepts broadcasts from the future and allows the two to view them. As a result, it’s 1940, but the two know David Bowie, the Kinks and Bob Dylan.

But it is 1940, and there’s a war in Europe, with Hitler rattling his sword about invading England. When the military gets wind of what LOLA can do, they decide to employ it for strategic military purposes. While this works initially, it gets complicated, making the girls look like traitors. What’s admirable is how Director Andrew Legge will blend this sci-fi premise without losing hold of how the sisters have to resonate and be someone we care about. There are big questions about good intentions going awry, the morality of changing History, and its consequences. Still, throughout all this, Legge makes it a point to keep the story centered on people and feelings.

Sanctuary (Amazon Prime on Demand) - If this is the future of rom-com, adding something kinky and disturbing, then bring it on! The narrative here centers on two persons, and the film is practically staged like a theater piece. Hal Porterfield (Christopher Abbott), presumptive heir to a hotel empire, and his father passed away. And then there’s Rebecca (Margaret Qualley), a woman regularly hired by Hal to play dominatrix in his hotel room and allow him to shed his inhibitions and feelings of inadequacy. The issue is that with Daddy gone and Hal being asked to steer the ship, he feels he has to give Rebecca the sweet Goodbye - something she’s not quite ready to accept just like that.

What follows is a loopy narrative that throws in a lot of twists and turns, surprises, and moments of acute embarrassment. Qualley and Abbott can be commended for their total commitment to the roles. And while it may seem that Qualley is doing more of the heavy lifting, I’ll appreciate how Abbott’s Hal is the more complex, nuanced character. Abbott gives us his pathetic, sniveling side as much as the side of false bravado. If there is a shortcoming to the film, there would be sequences that feel a tad indulgent, and some pruning of the film by 10 to 12 minutes could have helped bring this home more effectively. Still, if this is part of the evolving face of rom-com films, I’ll accept the quirky aspect but expect tighter writing and editing.