A well-to-do mother and her two children are in the streets of New York, getting into
a limousine. Mary, her teenage daughter, who is also dressed in elegant finery, is across
the street, outside the entrance to a fancy hotel, wishing her goodbye, and realizes she
forgot her purse, running over to hand it to her. With many farewell hugs and kisses,
her mother gets into the car and is driven away, and Mary immediately drops her fancy
persona. She runs up and down in delight, celebrating that she’s free to live alone
in New York and do anything she wants now that her mother is gone.
The scene freezes and it turns out it was just a fantasy. Mary is actually busy packing
her room to go to her new house in New Jersey, where her mother has forced her to move. She’s
resentful that she’s been forced to leave New York, wishing that the dream was real
and she’d actually been allowed to stay behind alone. In the car, where her family
is revealed to be a normal middle-class one with no exquisite dresses or limousines, she’s
sulking, wishing goodbye to every streetlamp and building they pass, and her mother rolls
her eyes and tells her to stop being such a drama queen.
Mary bites back like a typical teenager, saying that from this day on she wants to be called
Lola, that’s her true name and that’s what she’s always wanted to be. Her mother
refuses. They drive over the bridge and as they enter New Jersey, Lola perceives the
signs to read as portents of doom rather than normal road signs. She believes that her dream
of becoming a famous actress is over and her mother’s ruined her entire life before it’s
even begun. When they pull up, Lola is unimpressed with
the house but feels a little better once she’s put up her Stu Wolfe poster, which spans an
entire wall of her new bedroom. He’s a musician in a band she loves, Sidarthur. She cycles
to school, amazed that she can get there without it costing any money like it did in the city;
but almost instantly she crashes into a tree, having had no practice in a while.
She eventually arrives at school, by this point determined to try and be less negative
about the move, and see the school as a stage where she can write her own script and make
a whole new person of herself. She puts her bike in the rack and greets a girl nearby
who is also locking her bike away. She introduces herself as Lola from New York, and the other
girl smiles and says she’s Ella, from right there in New Jersey. They both have Sidarthur
merchandise on their outfits, and are soon fast friends, exchanging pictures and gossip
about Stu Wolfe. Just before class starts, three glamorous
looking girls enter and interrupt the conversation. Carla, the leader, boasts that her dad is
Stu Wolfe’s lawyer. She’s unimpressed with Lola, acting snooty and putting down
all her attempts to be friendly. Ella speaks up when Lola mentions New York, saying she
thinks it’s beautiful, but Carla laughs derisively, thinking it’s just a crime riddled
hellhole. The bell rings and everyone heads to their seats.
The teacher is about to introduce her as Mary when she steps up quickly and corrects her,
saying that she’s been called Lola ever since she was a tiny infant and she doesn’t
answer to Mary. It’s of course a lie, but the teacher believes her, saying she loves
the name Lola. At lunch, Carla and Lola are in the queue next to each other, and Carla
is explaining how life works at the school, that she had to earn the center seat in class,
and that Lola should stop drawing attention to herself if she wants to make it. Lola,
though, rebuts her, saying that she likes the attention, which surprises Carla.
Evidently deciding that Lola is worth her time to invest in, Carla gives her advice
not to hang out with Ella, because she dresses badly and has never had a boyfriend. She says
that Lola’s got potential, and if she plays her cards right, she could chill with them
at the popular table. Lola isn’t interested, though, biting back sarcastically and going
to find Ella with whom she’s actually got something in common. She asks about Carla,
and Ella shudders, saying she’s basically the queen bee.
Lola notices a guy looking at them, and Ella calls him over, introducing him as Sam. He
grins down at her and Lola’s immediately infatuated with him, getting really nervous
when he approaches the table. He says it’s good to meet her and she watches him walk
away, biting her lip and reminding herself that she can’t have a boyfriend, she has
to focus on her acting career. After a few weeks, Lola is used to her new
life. She and Ella cycle together through the gated rich community in which Ella resides.
In Ella’s room, they talk about how much they love Sidarthur, and Lola kisses a Stu
Wolfe poster and waxes lyrical about his music. Ella prefers the guitarist Steve. Ella’s
mom, a well-to-do lady, brings up some snacks and Lola tells her that her own mother has
strong opinions about microwaved food. Ella’s mother is clearly disapproving and leaves.
Lola is disappointed, asking Ella why her mother doesn’t like her, and without thinking,
her friend says it’s because she’s a little strange.Lola is upset and leaves, and Ella
runs after her, apologizing, saying it isn’t a big deal, and it’s really Lola’s mom
that her mother thinks is strange, because she saw her with chopsticks in her hair. Lola
defends her mom, and Ella admits that her parents just don’t like her mingling with
Lola because her mother’s a single mom with three kids. Lola told Ella she was a love
child, which isn’t true as her mom was married to her dad when she had her. Lola explains
it away, though, with a story about how her parents met.
They were madly in love with each other, and got married and camped in the desert and counted
the stars. Ella believes every word she says, even though she’s clearly spinning her own
crazy narrative. Lola pretends that her father was killed in a motorcycle accident because
it fits her dramatic backstory, and Ella feels awful, thinking her parents have Lola’s
mom all wrong. She heads home later that day to find her mom spinning pottery in the garage
and tells her she likes the chopsticks in her hair.
In the dressing room, Carla is talking about the school play Pygmalion and how she wants
to adapt it to a modern-day retelling. Lola overhears and, desperate to rescue the play
and turn it back into a classic, decides she wants to audition for the main part. She turns
up to the audition wearing an outfit befitting of Eliza Doolittle and brings a copy of the
play with her. The teacher, though, seems to have taken Carla’s idea already, explaining
how they’re going to set it in New York in the modern day, much to Lola’s horror.
She asks if it was her idea, and the teacher replies that of course it was, but through
gritted teeth that makes it seem like it really wasn’t.
She also announces that she’s going to change the name of the play and include contemporary
songs. Horrified, Lola protests that she hasn’t prepared anything, and because her chosen
profession is the theatre, she doesn’t want anyone remembering her as having a substandard
audition. The teacher asks her how she wants to proceed, and she sighs dramatically and
agrees that she’ll have to try, to Carla’s open smirk.
Lola gets up on stage and, accompanied by the teacher on the piano, belts out a romantic
Sidarthur song in a perfect rock voice. Halfway through, Sam walks in, watching her perform,
totally spellbound by her voice. Carla is sulking in the audience, realizing that Lola’s
voice is great, and glares as everyone applauds her afterwards.
The next morning, Lola is nervous as they go into school to find out the final casting.
She and Carla arrive so early the doors aren’t even unlocked. They race to the noticeboard,
past bags of trash that have yet to be taken out, and both trip over on the wet floor in
their attempts to get in the other person’s way. They arrive just as the cast list is
put up. Carla has been given the part of Mrs. Higgins while Lola is Eliza. She celebrates,
but Carla steps up to her menacingly and tells her that this is her school. Sam arrives and
gives her a hug, congratulating her on landing the part.
One day, Lola is in her bedroom and hears on the radio that Sidarthur has broken up.
She goes into hysterics, saying she can’t breathe and visualizing the end of the world
happening. She and Ella set up a memorial at the school with black balloons and funerary
wear. Sam passes by to offer his condolences, and Ella hands him a set of flyers to hand
out to fans, urging them to protest the breakup. Lola characterizes it as one of the most catastrophic
events in the history of the universe. Many of the high schoolers are hanging out
at a dance arcade where Carla is the all-time DDR champion. Feeling spicy, Lola decides
to challenge her, and her moves are just as good, however, Carla distracts her by telling
her that her father, who’s Sidarthur’s lawyer, managed to get her a ticket to their
farewell concert in New York the following month, and jealous, Lola loses her concentration.
She pushes for round two, though, and spins Carla a yarn, pretending that her mother knows
their manager and got her tickets too. She manages to beat Carla in round two.
After, though, they’re handing out flyers at the mall and Lola comes clean to Ella,
telling her she lied to Carla. Ella’s furious and anxious that Carla will find out and use
it to ridicule them. Lola says she intends to go to the party even though they don’t
have a ticket, that people in New York crash celebrity parties all the time, but Ella replies
that her mother will never let her go. Lola is resolute. They have to be there no matter
what. At home, Lola is wearing widow’s garb and
telling her family about the pain she’s in, angling for a ticket to the concert. She
says she has no reason to live without them, and if she doesn’t have a ticket to the
concert, then she’ll have nothing but long, empty years ahead. Her mother is used to her
dramatics, though, and doesn’t offer to buy her a ticket. Lola complains to Sam about
her mother’s reluctance, and says Ella won’t even ask her own mother about it. Trying to
distract her from her malaise, he compliments her necklace, and she smiles; then he says
he likes her smile, too. Despite her growing attraction to him, though, she’s not deterred
from her mission. She goes on hunger strike at home, comparing
herself to Gandhi and asserting that she won’t eat until her mother gives her concert tickets.
Her dad, very much alive, calls and asks if he can take her to the concert, but she refuses
on the grounds that she’d die of shame if she went with her father. Her mother, exasperated,
finds a half-eaten pizza under the bed, realizes that the hunger strike wasn’t real, and
takes away Lola’s allowance as a punishment. Carla flaunts her tickets at school and Lola
keeps up the pretence that she’s got some. She and Ella head to the mall with Ella’s
allowance, but the tickets are sold out before they can get any. They decide to go anyway
and try to get some from scalpers on the night. Lola lies to her mother about a party to try
to get her to buy new clothes, but she doesn’t have the money.
Ella is freaking out and crying as Lola tries to find something she can wear to the concert.
She’s upset about having to lie to her parents and wants to back out, she knows something
will go wrong, they’ll be found out, and she doesn’t want to get in trouble. Lola,
ever the bad influence, persuades her that teenagers are supposed to rebel, but Ella
is so upset, crying that she can’t lie. Lola thinks up a new plan and goes to speak
to her mother, who, believing they already have tickets, agrees to ask Ella’s parents
about coming up with a way they can get the girls there.
Lola’s mother meets up with Ella’s parents, who are in reality more than happy to help
and wonder why Ella didn’t just ask them to go. Turns out they would have been fine
to take her all along, and she was panicking about asking them for no reason. The plan
is settled and the trip to New York is going ahead. During the dress rehearsal for the
performance, Lola imagines herself in a dress like Marilyn Monroe, with Sid Wolfe putting
a necklace on her and dancing through the night in a penthouse apartment.
Lola convinces Sam to steal Eliza’s dress from the costume department so she can wear
it to the concert. She’s messing up her dance moves at practice because she’s so
nervous. The teacher says she needs to get something from the drama room and is about
to catch Sam, but Lola follows her there and distracts her. Sam gets out successfully with
the dress and the girls get on the train together. Ella freaks out about her stealing the dress
but she convinces her it’s fine. They get changed in the train toilet and pin on all
their Sidarthur memorabilia, and meet Ella’s parents at Grand Central. Ella gives Lola
the money for the tickets. Outside the concert, it’s packed, but they
manage to find a scalper. However, Lola has left the money on the train in her makeup
bag. Ella gets in by sneaking through with a big group of people, but Lola is caught
outside, and then Ella is thrown out as well. She suggests just going back to the hotel,
but Lola doesn’t want to, trying to persuade her that even though they missed the concert,
they can still make the after-party. She has a picture of Stu Wolfe’s house she got from
a magazine, and she knows he lives in Soho, so she suggests finding the place and trying
to get in before the end of the concert when it gets busy. Unwillingly, Ella agrees. A
stranger is watching them from underneath a nearby stairwell.
Before they get there, it starts pouring with rain, and the girls are totally drenched.
The stranger follows them and soon they become aware of him. Ella is freaking out, but Lola
realizes it’s her father, who Ella thinks is dead, and tells her she’ll handle it,
leaving her waiting while she drops back to talk to him. She insists he needs to stay
outside and lay low because he’s scaring her friend. They recognise Carla’s car and
follow it all the way to the party. Lola tries to lie her way into the party,
but is unsuccessful. As they wait at the entrance, trying to convince the doorman, Stu and Steve
emerge, in a fistfight. Stu is clearly drunk. He’s kicked out of his own party, and wanders
off down a street. Ella says she’s scared being out here alone, but Lola counters that
they’re with an ‘adult’, even though he’s currently drunk and passing out in
a pile of trash. They rescue him from a dumpster and bring
him to a local café. He’s crying, completely drunk, and sure that they want something from
him. They order him a coffee to sober him up, and he orders onion rings in a drunken
slur, but they tell the waitress not to bring them. When she comes back with just coffee,
he gets irritated, grabs a donut and throws it across the room, hitting a police officer
in the back of the head. They take Stu down to the police station and
wait with him while they figure out what they’re going to do. Lola tells the police her father’s
address, and Ella freaks out again, asking what she’s doing lying to the police. She
says she didn’t lie to them, that she may have just exaggerated the story to Ella a
bit. Ella’s understandably shocked and aghast that Lola lied about her father’s death
and confronts her. Lola admits that she lied because she wanted to make herself seem more
interesting. It was a new town, and a new school, and she was worried how her mom would
be perceived by the locals, so she told a story.
Ella does not understand and is unwilling to hear Lola out. Lola’s father arrives
and bails them out, and Lola tells the police the whole story. Stu has sobered up by the
end of the night and invites them all to the party at the loft, as thanks for looking after
him and keeping him out of trouble. Ella says she’s in no way ready to forgive Lola for
her lies, but agrees to go into the party with her regardless.
Stu finds them and takes them up to his room where they try on a bunch of his clothes and
mess around playing air guitar. Ella is still annoyed, but Lola promises never to lie to
her again, and she decides to forgive her for the sake of enjoying themselves at the
party. They see Carla and call out to her, and she is filled with rage that they are
actually at the party like they said they would be.
Lola finds a moment to sit down with Stu and asks him about what he was thinking when he
wrote all his songs. He’s drunk again by this point, though, and can barely string
a sentence together. He says everything’s blurry and he doesn’t really remember what
he was thinking or doing for most of his life. She’s really disappointed that she won’t
be able to discuss his poetry with him and understand his songs - it turns out that meeting
her hero was really just a huge letdown. They get back to school and Lola hands Sam
the dress, so he can put it back in the drama room. Ella runs in and excitedly yells that
she’s been grounded, and Lola says she has, too. Sam is thrilled for them both, saying
he can’t wait to see Carla taken down a peg ever since she bullied him one year at
summer camp. However, when they go into their classroom, Carla denies ever seeing them at
the party, and when Lola bites back claiming she can prove her father took them, she calls
her out, saying she thought her father was dead and that she’s just a serial liar and
that her real name isn’t even Lola, it’s Mary. Humiliated, Lola walks back to her desk.
Ella says she doesn’t have anything to prove, but that Carla knows they were there.
At the school play rehearsal, Lola comes clean to the teacher about stealing the dress. However,
Carla interrupts and makes fun of Lola’s claims. Soon, she’s trying to prove over
and over again that it’s true, but everyone only laughs harder as Carla spins everything
she says to make it seem impossible. She’s learning the full consequences of her dramatic
and overexaggerated storytelling, that nobody believes her when she’s actually telling
the truth. Lola sinks into a depression, and on the night
of the play, Ella storms into her room, telling her to cut the crap and get over it. Shocked
by her friend’s forwardness, Lola questions what’s happened to her, but Ella’s just
had enough of her dramatics. Lola tries to spin a story about how she’s sick, but Ella
knows it’s not true, yelling at her that Sam has never even been to a school function
before, but now, he’s going because of her. She can’t just abandon the play. She also
says that she was miserable before Lola came, that she was the one who gave her the courage
to be different. She says that even though most of what Lola said was a total sham, that
the one thing Carla can’t take away from her is being Eliza Doolittle, and she can’t
just give it up. Meanwhile, everyone at school is panicking
because Lola’s so late. Carla has been put in as an understudy and is wearing the red
dress that Lola took to New York. Lola enters in the first Eliza costume and tells her to
get out of the dress, and the two have a fight in the back room. The teacher runs in, overjoyed
to see Lola there at last, and joins in, telling Carla to get back into her Mrs. Higgins part.
Infuriated, Carla does as she’s told. Lola’s about to go onstage and is getting
nervous, but her mom comes backstage to wish her luck and calls her Lola instead of Mary.
She’s shocked and pleased that her mom is finally willing to call her her chosen name.
Everyone in the audience applauds as the play begins. Lola absolutely rocks the play, singing
her heart out and doing a brilliant job in every scene. The applause is thunderous as
the curtain draws closed. Lola’s parents, Ella, and Sam are all watching with huge smiles
on their faces. Lola comes back on to do the encore, a song about being a high school drama
queen. There’s a party at Carla’s house after
the play, and everyone’s there celebrating the production’s success. Stu Wolfe turns
up at the door in a limousine, and Carla is startled, asking him if her father invited
him, but he says no, that Lola’s father told him she’d be there and he wanted to
come in and see her. Panicking, realizing that everyone’s going to find out she lied
about not seeing Lola at the party, Carla asks him to wait outside, but he walks forward
anyway, and everyone at the party is awed and amazed to see the rockstar. Hushed whispers
follow Carla around the room as she tries to lead Stu away from where Lola is, but Ella
catches sight of it and pushes Lola over to Stu.
He calls out to her, and everyone gasps. He’s brought back her necklace that she left at
his house. She turns around and lets him put it on her, just like her fantasy, brimming
with excitement that it’s actually coming true. Carla is pushed to the back of the crowd,
forgotten, and stumbles over into a fountain. Everyone laughs at her, but Lola steps forward
and offers her a hand to help her up. Although initially she’s too proud, Carla eventually
takes the hand and the two make a truce. Stu confesses to Lola that he came by personally
because he’s trying to go sober again, because someone very sweet told him that he was a
drunk and he didn’t like it. He wanted to come and say thanks for snapping him out of
a bad spiral. So one day, when he’s doing better, he’d like to see her again so that
they can talk about his music. Then he asks her if she’d like a dance with him before
he goes. It’s just like in Lola’s dream with Stu
spinning her in a penthouse. Except, halfway through the dance, she realizes that New York
can be anywhere as long as you’re happy there, and not everyone needs to be Stu Wolfe.
Now that she’s done with the school play, she can consider her career officially launched,
and Sam has been there waiting for her all along. She finishes up dancing with Sam at
the end of the night, finally opening her heart up to him and letting him in. They share
a sweet first kiss on the dance floor, and Lola has finally got everything she wanted
in reality rather than just in a fantasy.