Frank and Lola

Synopsis

The film tells the story Frank (Michael Shannon), a chef in Las Vegas, who meets and falls in love with Lola (Imogen Poots), a mysterious young woman who's new to the city. Betrayal, then forgiveness, soon follow, but the damage has been done. Consumed by obsession, Frank soon finds himself in Paris, intent on exacting revenge on a man from Lola's past.

Cast

Production

Writer/director Matthew Ross originally wrote the script nearly a decade before the film was shot. In the original screenplay, instead of Las Vegas the film was set in Brooklyn. He said, "An opportunity came up from producers and financiers who said that if I moved the film to downtown Las Vegas, they would finance it. Initially I was hesitant. I’d been living with the script for eight years at that point, and my experience with Las Vegas was probably pretty typical of most people who don’t live there – hotels on The Strip and staying up all night in casinos. It just didn’t feel real to me, and I wanted these characters to feel real. So in order to make that transition and to translate the movie, I spent more time in Vegas, specifically downtown, to try to get a sense of what it was like... I discovered that there’s a really cool and exciting, vibrant arts and culture scene there that’s just been developing downtown." Ross believes the Vegas setting made for a better film, adding, "Yes, it took eight years to get the film made, but I also got to really refine the script. And if I’d made it earlier, it wouldn’t have been as tight as it was when we shot it. Now I couldn’t imagine it being anywhere else but Vegas – it’s kind of the perfect backdrop for these two lonely, damaged characters in the movie. So it all really worked out perfectly."

In February 2014, it was announced Lola Pictures, Killer Films, Parts and Labor, and Preferred Content joined to produce the film, with Jan Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Christine Vachon, Kevin Iwashina, and John Baker to produce the film. In February 2015, Arclight Films announced that it had acquired all international sales rights for the film. In July 2015, the Sundance Institute selected Frank & Lola and director Matthew Ross to take part in its Feature Film Program's annual Music and Sound Design Labs at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. Frank & Lola was one of two completed featured films selected out the Lab's eight total projects. Danny Bensi and Saunder Juuriaans composed the films score.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2016. Shortly after, Universal Studios acquired worldwide distribution rights, excluding a few territories, with Paladin co-distributing the film. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on December 9, 2016.

Critical reception

In a 4-star review for The Guardian, writer Nigel Smith wrote: “Dark and sexy, Frank & Lola is always one step ahead of its audience, to deliver a haunting examination of male obsession and domination, that also serves as a weird sort of love story...Shannon is superb, investing Frank with a surprising amount of tenderness even as he grows increasingly irate with Lola and her profusion of untruths. He’s an alluring and dangerous lead, perfectly paired with Poots, who more than holds her own to finally deliver on all the promise she’s shown in films less worthy of her talents.”

Indiewire’s Rodrigo Perez reviewed the film, writing, “There’s a bewitching and intensely intoxicating quality to the opening act of Frank & Lola, a seductive, romantic noir turned psychosexual drama from assured first-time feature director Matthew Ross…Ross is a major talent worth watching. He’s got an eye, a strong p.o.v, and the movie has many perceptive observations about the self-destructive perils of possessiveness, ownership and holding on too tight.”

The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Farber called Frank & Lola a “haunting dissection of male jealousy…Other films have focused on sexual jealousy, but Ross and Shannon probe deeper than most into the poisonous, compulsive nature of male suspicion…Ross has described Frank & Lola as a neo-noir, and it does deserve comparison with similarly dark character studies (such as Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place) from Hollywood’s golden age of noir. This movie casts a troubling spell.”

In Consequence of Sound, Michael Roffman wrote: “Part drama, part psychosexual thriller, part revenge fantasy, Michael Shannon’s latest platform balls up the dark mystery of Polanski, the vivid passion of De Palma, and the razor tension of Hitchcock for a savvy and meticulous 90 mins…Frank & Lola is an electric modern noir that thrives from indelible characters and a palatable style. As both screenwriter and director, Ross proves he’s a filmmaker with not just something to say, but somewhere to take us. Rest assured, our passports are ready.”

The Film Stage’s Ed Frankel: “Frank & Lola, a noirish erotic thriller from journalist-turned-director Matthew Ross, finds leads Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots in top form. They excel as lovers in this tightly-wound psychosexual love story that has elements of the best of Eyes Wide Shut…Frank & Lola has some of that film’s noir-esque aesthetic, too, with hints of Michael Mann’s night-time city look…Carried by two accomplished performances, and despite a tight 87-minute running time, this is a rich saga, bathed in atmosphere that disturbs as much as it engrosses. It’s certainly not a date movie, and all the better for it.”

Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro: “The former Variety reporter and Filmmaker editor has crafted a complex psycho-sexual love story here, with hues of Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation and Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris, among other titles.”

The Boston Globe included the film in its “Finding Winners at Sundance” wrap-up, with writer Ty Burr saying that: “This feature debut from writer-director Matthew Ross teases intriguing interference patterns out of its various genres, moods, and locations…It’s great to see a Vegas movie without a single scene set in a casino, and when Frank & Lola hops the Atlantic to Paris…Ross uses the Marais district and the Place des Vosges with a similarly fresh and unnerving eye…Ross is one to keep an eye on.”

At JoBlo.com, Chris Bumbray gave Frank & Lola and 8/10 rating, writing that “Even if their relationship is toxic, for some strange reason you want them patch things up and live happily ever after. This is nuts considering how crazy they both are, but Ross makes it work…One thing that’s significant about Frank & Lola is that it’s a legitimately serious film about sex, something that’s increasingly rare these days…Ross has a really sharp eye, with it having a rich, sophisticated look that gives the film studio-level production values. The acting - of course - is superb with Shannon getting a showcase part that plays to his strengths. Poots is similarly good… It’s a sexy, adult thriller that doesn’t pander and never feels artificial. This one will likely find an appreciative audience and makes for a promising debut for writer/director Ross.”

Ross and Frank & Lola were also included on a number of "Best of Sundance" roundups. Indiewire listed Ross as #3 on its list of “25 Filmmakers and Actors Who Rocked Sundance,” saying that “Michael Shannon is in almost literally a dozen movies this year, but we wonder if he’ll get a better showcase across the rest of 2016 as he does in Sundance movie Frank & Lola, and the man responsible, Matthew Ross, should get a ton of attention as a result. A former film journalist, Ross made a number of acclaimed shorts including Lola and Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis, but makes a striking debut with this feature.” Additionally, The Film Stage named Frank & Lola as one of 15 best films of the festival, and Ioncinema included Ross on its list "Top 10 New Voices" at Sundance 2016.