LOLA (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

LOLA is a device created by the inventor Thom that can intercept radio and television signals from the future. Named after their late mother, it allows the sisters to hear music and news broadcasts that have not happened yet. During WWII, they use it to broadcast warnings about impending air raids, and later to feed strategic intelligence to the Royal Air Force about German bomber movements.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes show the sisters using LOLA to listen to music from future decades, establishing its ability to access time before any major wartime use.

• LOLA machine
• future signals
• time device
• Thom发明

Thom becomes increasingly enthralled by LOLA's power because she sees it as a way to shape the future and control outcomes. She believes her work can alter the course of the war and create a better world. As her obsession grows, she isolates herself from her sister Mars and Holloway, banishing them from the house so she can work uninterrupted, convinced that her manipulations are for the greater good.

Foreshadowing: Even before the war, Thom is drawn to LOLA's possibilities beyond just listening to music, hinting at her desire to actively change things.

• Thom motivation
• obsession
• power
• control
• LOLA corruption

Thom orchestrates a signal-based trap for German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic using LOLA's intelligence. However, the operation backfires: the Germans succeed in sinking the American ship SS Abraham Lincoln, killing around 2,000 people. This tragedy causes American officials to suspect Britain knew about the attack beforehand, souring Allied relations and delaying the United States' entry into the war.

Foreshadowing: The U-boat trap is presented as Thom's most ambitious attempt to use LOLA for strategic advantage, showing her willingness to take greater risks.

• SS Abraham Lincoln
• U-boat
• Battle of the Atlantic
• 2000 deaths
• American entry war

Thom receives signals indicating a German invasion would land at Southampton the next day, and she warns the British authorities. However, the actual invasion lands at Dover instead, this deception marks the first major failure of LOLA's predictions and reveals that their meddling with time has begun producing inaccurate or altered information. The failure leads Cobcroft to suspect the sisters are double agents.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show the sisters noticing subtle signs that their manipulations are bending events in unexpected ways, foreshadowing LOLA's reliability breaking down.

• Southampton
• Dover
• invasion warning
• LOLA failure
• deception

After being freed by German forces during a chaotic attack on London, Thom becomes a collaborator with the fascist government that has taken over Britain, led by Oswald Mosley and Edward VIII. She pursues scientific progress as a tool for building what she believes is a perfect society. When Adolf Hitler visits her house, she welcomes him as a partner in her vision, even as her sister Mars fights against the regime.

Foreshadowing: Thom's growing belief that she can shape a better future through LOLA gradually crosses moral boundaries, leading her to ally with whoever can support her scientific ambitions.

• Thom
• collaboration
• fascism
• Mosley
• Edward VIII
• Hitler

In the final moments, Mars reveals that she made this film as a message to reach her past self and warn Thom against further experimentation with LOLA. The closing title card states that LOLA has never been found, and the only trace of the Hanbury sisters is a newspaper photo of them celebrating V-E Day. Mars survives, but Thom is fatally shot by a German soldier while trying to rescue her, making the ending bittersweet.

Foreshadowing: The entire film is framed as Mars's attempt to communicate backward in time, a consequence of the sisters' actions rippling across the timeline.

• ending
• final scene
• V-E Day
• message
• time warning
• film within film

Yes, Mars survives the war. After being captured and hanged by German soldiers in the front yard of Thom's house during Hitler's visit, she is rescued by Thom. However, Thom is fatally wounded by a German soldier during the rescue attempt. Mars ultimately lives to create the film that serves as her warning to the past, making her the sole survivor of the two sisters.

Foreshadowing: Mars consistently expresses caution about their manipulations throughout the film, suggesting she is meant to endure and reflect on their actions.

• Mars survival
• Thom death
• execution
• hanged
• rescue

Major Cobcroft grows increasingly suspicious of the sisters after LOLA's predictions begin failing, particularly after the Southampton-Dover deception. He has them arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for treason, believing they are double agents manipulating British intelligence. The authorities see their accurate early warnings as evidence they had inside knowledge, possibly from the Germans themselves.

Foreshadowing: Cobcroft's skepticism was established early when he first inspected LOLA, and his doubts grow as the sisters' predictions become unreliable.

• arrest
• trial
• death sentence
• Cobcroft
• treason
• double agents

The sisters' use of LOLA to help the RAF successfully shoots down many German bombers, forcing the Luftwaffe to cancel raids over Britain. However, their interference creates a cascade of unintended consequences: the Abraham Lincoln disaster delays American entry into the war, Germany launches a renewed invasion attempt, and the timeline becomes increasingly unstable. The film shows that even well-intentioned meddling with time produces catastrophic results.

Foreshadowing: Early warnings about the Blitz save lives but immediately draw military attention, showing how their actions begin altering the war's trajectory.

• history change
• war outcome
• Luftwaffe
• Allied victory
• time paradox consequences

Mars tunes into a 1973 television appearance by David Bowie, only to discover the broadcast has been hijacked by Reginald Watson, whose music carries disturbing fascist themes. This moment demonstrates that the sisters' manipulations have already altered the future, turning a cultural icon into a propaganda tool for an alternate timeline. The incident hardens Thom's resolve to push LOLA further, believing the future must be corrected.

Foreshadowing: This scene foreshadows the sisters' eventual creation of a fascist timeline where cultural figures have been replaced by regime-approved artists.

• David Bowie
• 1973
• fascist music
• Reginald Watson
• future altered

Lieutenant Sebastian Holloway of the Royal Corps of Signals traces the sisters' broadcasts and becomes romantically involved with Mars during his investigation. When the sisters are arrested, Holloway helps Mars escape during a German attack on London, and they flee to Cornwall together. Holloway's loyalty to Mars persists through the chaos of the alternate timeline, though his ultimate fate is not fully detailed in the film.

Foreshadowing: The romance develops early as Holloway stays at the house to authenticate LOLA's signals, creating a personal connection that motivates his later actions.

• Holloway
• Mars
• romance
• escape
• Cornwall
• relationship