Betty Marisol Garcia’s “Lola” is less a film about a young idealistic girl in a big city, and more a film about immigrants and their search for the American dream. Lola is a girl who is very idyllic in her ways, enduring a bad relationship based on the possibility of personal gain and obtaining her citizenship which her boyfriend constantly promises, along with befriending her next door neighbor Carmen, a cross dresser who is just as confused as she is in terms of life direction, and she’s really just looking for a way to feel fulfilled and accomplished without ever having a goal set.

She's naive in her ways, and has no real book or street smarts to help her survive, and sees the only option of going back home standing in front of her. She has enough maturity to attempt a life in New York, and yet has very little life experience, which is why she foresees a miserable life with her abusive boyfriend coming very soon with she acting as his prisoner, while Andy Señor is rather memorable as the moral center in Lola’s life, smacking a sense of reality into her mind, and standing back as she makes terrible decisions and digs herself deeper into her hole with only one option left. Garcia’s film chooses to depict New York as a place that can truly beat down anyone unprepared instead of as an optimistic land of opportunity, and makes a statement about life, its tribulations, and potential consequences if not approached with enough street smarts.

A stark statement about the immigration experience in a country that sometimes can't guarantee equal opportunities, and success, "Lola" is a very well directed, and acted short piece with stand outs from Andy Senor, and Francisca Vargas.

• For more information on "Lola," visit the official website.

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