X
- 2021
- R
- 1 h 26 m
- 2021
- R
- 1 h 26 m
Summary Zola (Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa...
Directed By: Janicza Bravo
- 2021
- R
- 1 h 26 m
- 2021
- R
- 1 h 26 m
Zola
76
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary Zola (Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa...
Directed By: Janicza Bravo
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 46 Critic Reviews
76
87% Positive
40 Reviews
40 Reviews
13% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 46 Critic Reviews
76
87% Positive
40 Reviews
40 Reviews
13% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
At the very end of Janicza Bravo’s Zola, just as you’re struggling to comprehend what on earth the film is supposed to amount to, there is a wonderful moment when you realise that’s the entire point.
Despite its unconventional source material, it turns out to be surprisingly well-crafted, elevated by breathtaking central performances and the stylish, slyly knowing sensibility of director Janicza Bravo.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 65 User Ratings
6.2
48% Positive
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
42% Mixed
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
11% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 65 User Ratings
6.2
48% Positive
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
42% Mixed
27 Ratings
27 Ratings
11% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Zola is a strangely real and anxiety driven film with an original premise. Strangely fitting for 2021, having an entire film based on a series of tweets from a chaotic weekend.
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With Zola, however, the director Janicza Bravo has made a film that contends with the uneasy interplay between characters’ online and offline selves. And it posits that we use the internet to fool ourselves as much as to fool others.
The film is about the power of storytelling, and not in the cornball, self-congratulatory sense in which that phrase is normally deployed.
The result is a raw and sometimes chilling and often darkly funny adventure filled with just enough nods to social media, e.g., we sometimes hear the familiar Twitter sound effect when something is posted.
As funny and ferocious as much of Zola is, it’s let down by an increasingly haphazard script that doesn’t know how to either sustain its humor or negotiate its turn into darker territory — and so, disappointingly, it waffles.
Sure, it’s fun to see a movie skewer the vapid soullessness of social media and the unregulated economy of male desire, but Zola ultimately rings hollow. The actors are fearless, and yet, how much do we know about these characters in the end? The answer: something of their values, but almost nothing of their lives.
Different, but I actually liked it.
'Zola' takes a few scenes to get into it and to get used to the stylistic choices, namely with the editing and dialogue, though by the end I did in fact enjoy this film. It's a bonkers story, one that I semi heard about when it became known that a film was going to be made based on a thread of tweets.
It's probably much better than it was any right to be in truth, all things considered, but the filmmakers made it work and deserve credit for that - and also for the astutely chosen short run time, too.
The acting talent bring noteworthy performances, with particularly Taylour Paige and also Riley Keough putting in the work. Colman Domingo is also good - I already like that guy from TV's 'Fear the Walking Dead', so it's always a pleasure to see him act elsewhere.
Recommended.
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Zola is a unique experience, to say the least. Another release from the up-and-coming A24, Zola is edgy and raw, but at times too abrasive. Performances by Taylour Paige and Riley Keough are acceptable, but leave depth to be desired. Colman Domingo once again impresses on the silver screen, while the rest of the cast leaves not such a great memory. While it has its moments of modern Gen-Y/Gen-Z hypersexualized, crime thriller humor, Zola lacks a definitive story containing any emotion or psychological depth; which is ironic for a movie based on a Twitter thread. It doesn't feel like I'm watching a movie about the Twitter thread, it feels like I'm watching a movie about people trying to Live Action Roleplay the Twitter thread. A24's cinematography aside, perhaps it should've kept to Twitter.
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Here's a peculiar little indie that was adapted from and based off a nearly 150-Tweet-long Twitter thread that went viral back in the Fall of 2015 that chronicles the misadventures of a stripper named Aziah 'Zola' King who travels to Florida with a fellow stripper in order to make extra money, but gets caught up in a dangerous gang affair instead. First off, I balked at the idea of an entire film being based off a Twitter thread, but also found the idea potentially intriguing as well. And while the film undeniably has flair and swagger to it, it mostly just lands squarely in the middle of just another "white trash cinema" flick. It's a film that deals with trashy people that are very difficult to sympathize with or care about, contains several sleazy sex sequences, one in the midway point of the film particularly that I really wish I could unsee, and seemingly aimless direction throughout that doesn't really do this outrageous story justice (I read the thread before going to see this, and I simply felt underwhelmed with this film's retelling of it compared to the actual thread itself.) The only real positives here is Taylour Paige's lead performance as the titular Zola, and the film does a fine job of capturing the glamorous but often times sketchy seedy underbelly of Tampa, Florida. But overall, it's flashy but mostly just seems to fall back on its own bling for the sake of show and to compensate for lack of substance.
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In 2015, A’Ziah “Zola” Wells wrote 148 tweets that chronicled the story of her bizarre trip to Tampa. Their popularity resulted in this film, which stars Taylour Paige as a Detroit waitress who befriends a customer (Riley Keough). Soon, they’re off for a weekend of exotic dancing that turns into much more. The narrative has an offhand casual feel, primarily due to the sometimes stunned and always insightful VO from Paige. Pile on a bunch of enjoyably over-the-top, fearless performances led by Riley Keogh and you have a parade of original characters. There are short montages and lots of quick cuts to keep the chaotic pace. Mica Levy’s score, full of sound effect punctuation and hardass songs, adds to the idiosyncratic appeal of this film and the characters’ journeys. Original, unique and slyly entertaining.
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Production Company
Killer Films,
Gigi Films,
Ramona Films
Release Date Jun 30, 2021
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating R
Awards
Black Reel Awards
• 2 Wins & 9 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 2 Wins & 7 Nominations
Columbus Film Critics Association
• 3 Nominations
