Directed by Janicza Bravo
Written by Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris, based on the tweets by A’Ziah King
Starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun and Colman Domingo
Running time 1 hour, 30 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexual content and language throughout, graphic nudity, and violence including a sexual assault
In theaters June 30

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport & Editor in Chief

“Who are you gonna be tonight Zola?

The movie Zola is like a traffic accident. I know it is not polite to stare, I should probably look away but I just can’t help tilting my sunglasses down and taking it all in.

Janicza Bravo and Jeremy Harris have managed to take a 148-tweet thread and turn it into one of the most entertaining and quite possibly horrific stories shown on the silver screen in quite some time. By the end of the ninety minute watch, I believe there is no doubt in confirming that Bravo is a brilliant filmmaker and has a hit on her hands.

Stefani (Riley Keough) walks into a Detroit restaurant and into Zola’s (Taylour Paige) life. Within not even twenty-four hours Stefani invites Zola via text on a road trip to Tampa. Stefani claims she knows a bar where they can make a lot of cash for one night of stripping. There are, however, quite a number of details kept from Stefani such as who’s accompanying them on the trip, where they will be staying and that the night might include more than just… stripping. Zola is told to be ready and inevitably embarks on what feels like a never-ending weekend from hell.

I have a hard time saying this an enjoyable watch for me, as the story is quite unsettling. Regardless of that, I have seen it twice already. The level of uncomfortability that comes from the story’s subject matter is enough to give me an anxiety attack. I first watched the film at Sundance in 2020, the pandemic followed causing A24 to shelve the film until it would be able to play in cinemas. If I learned anything from being shut-in over the past year and half it is that there are some movies that are perfectly suitable for an at-home experience while there are others that benefit from a theatrical one. Zola is one of those flicks. Bravo’s directorial choices shine. In particular, the way she chooses to tell a story that was entirely told via an app (Twitter) with only rarely showing an actual phone screen. Instead, she immerses the viewer in the story by utilizing familiar notification sounds (ie message dings, Twitter alerts) and allows the theater screen to be our window into this story. While Zola is experiencing the chaos of the evening, you are right there with her.

This is more than a story about two women that barely know one another that take a road trip in hopes of making some quick cash stripping. This is a story about societal pressure and that, sadly, many of us never truly learn the value of our own self-worth. After Stefani’s pimp sets up a page on a website selling sexual encounters, there’s a scene in the hotel room in which Zola confronts Stefani and asks, “Is your brain broken?”. For Stefani, who claims she is doing this all for her child, she does not see any other way to deal with her situation. There is no way out other than this way of being taken advantage of. On top of this, she also does not value herself and is willing to commit acts such as this only for another to benefit. When Zola points out to her that she is worth more than that and proceeds to raise the price on the webpage soliciting her, the shock across Stefani’s face really hit me. Despite the raise in price, it is only a mere few seconds before the phone dings notifying them of a perspective client while simultaneously giving Stefani the confidence she never before experienced.

There is nothing wrong with sex work, but there is something inherently immoral when the occupation a person is in engaged in profits off their well being and neglects to acknowledge that they even are worth existing. It is not surprising to see that Stefani took Zola along for this dark ride when, for her, this was just another day at the office.