Zola (2021)

Review

86min

Genre:       Comedy, Crime, Drama

Director:     Janicza Bravo

Cast:         Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo…and more

Writers:     Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris and A’Ziah King

-Synopsis-

A young Detroit stripper embarks on a saucy road trip to Florida with a fellow exotic dancer and her two companions, only for things to take a turn when she realises her cringeworthy new friend is wilder and more manipulative than she bargained for, in this in this vibrant character exploration of personality and modern media inspired by a real-life Twitter thread.

When it comes to capturing the brash boisterousness of modern American youth, bringing marginalised peoples or underground industries and the sex trade to the forefront with a certain style, cinema and in particular indie film has always had a record to rival music, pop culture and more recently social media—as witnessed in recent films like ‘Spring Breakers’, ‘American Honey’ and ‘The Florida Project’. Now inspired by a 2015 ‘Rolling Stone’ article and the Tweets of A’Ziah ‘Zola’ Wells on which it was based, writer/director Janicza Bravo carves out her own unique hyper realist slice of 21st century street Americana, weaving together a bizarre tale of exploitation and dysfunctional friendship befitting its generation.

Taylour Paige stars as Detroit waitress and exotic dancer ‘Zola’, who randomly meets fellow adult entertainer and brash oblivious wannabe ebony street queen white girl ‘Stefani’ (Riley Keough), embarking on an impromptu stripper road trip to Florida with her, her needy boyfriend ‘Derrek’ (Nicholas Braun), and authoritative “roommate” ‘X’ (Colman Domingo). But things quickly take a turn when Stefani proves wilder and more manipulative than anticipated, and her so-called roommate turns out to be a menacing pimp, as stripping transforms into turning tricks when Zola becomes caught in an increasingly chaotic web of sexual exploitation, taking them on a road trip she’ll never forget.

If Bravo’s intention was to slightly confound the audience and leave it conflicted over what to feel about her film, then mission accomplished. Because despite being billed as tale of coercion and sexual exploitation based on a true story, or at least the real Zola’s version of events, the film proves so stylised, comical and even occasionally bizarrely whimsical that you might be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a Harmony Korine picture, or a 21st century version of 1999’s ‘Go’. And yet ‘Zola’ is never quite gritty or dynamic enough to hold its own with the outrageous fictional hustler dramas you might compare it too, while being conversely darker and more fanciful than a comparable real life sex worker story like 2019’s ‘Hustlers’.

What the film most certainly has is a solid duo of central performances to hold it up, as Taylour Paige as the titular character mesmerises the audience with her beauty and energy, while simultaneously representing the viewer by serving as an often stoic and always level-headed victim and witness to the unfolding ridiculousness.

Meanwhile rather ironically, Riley Keough provides much of the film’s colour as the problematic “white bitch”—as Zola often refers to her—with the actress letting loose on a deliberately cringeworthy character who leans heavily into her cultural appropriation with oblivious gusto, reflecting a whole generation of American white kids wilfully lost in so-called “black culture”. And with her performance Keogh continues to defy the expectations of her own upbringing, by keeping her ear to the ground whilst forging a daring path through indie cinema and TV.

Yet despite its admirable performances, which also includes a memorable Colman Domingo as a bombastic but menacing pimp, ‘Zola’ is too all over the place and not always in a good way, and the nature of a chaotic tone and structure deliberately designed to reflect the story ultimately doesn’t translate into quality or compelling storytelling.

Yes it has a certain pulsating energy which drives the film forward, thanks in no small part to a quirky soundtrack of hip-hop and ragga mixed with pop and African stylings, all blended with another plush synth score from Mica Levi (Under the Skin, Monos). But that energy sputters along in fits and starts and is offset by the film’s uneven tone, and often punctured by the incessant sights & sounds of social media and me-me-me culture, also known as the language of young millennials and Gen-Z.

Perhaps the biggest let down from a film whose premise and trailer showed so much promise is the all-important story. No matter how much Bravo and co-writer Jeremy O. Harris might want the erratic plot to reflect and inform the chaotic story they’re telling, it just doesn’t make for a compelling tale. And for all the talk of it being based on the craziest Twitter story ever, ‘Zola’ is nowhere near as wild or daring as some of the fictional tales which so clearly inspired it as a film. And even despite some interesting left turns, it’s ultimately a rather tame albeit moderately titillating effort which reflects the stifling social sensitivity of its time—leaving us wishing the filmmakers had taken far more artistic license than they did.

‘Zola’ isn’t without merit though, and it certainly boasts a certain style and youthful energy that will captivate the audience, if only sporadically, and you may get more from it as a frenzied and fanciful experience rather than a story. There’s also no denying the mesmerising qualities its two stars bring to the screen, not to mention both the homoerotic and adversarial chemistry between them. But a millennial or zoomer ‘Thelma & Louise’ this is not—unless it’s one where Thelma hates Louise, and Louise is ready to throw Thelma under the bus at the drop of a hat.

The Bottom Line…

Too stylised and comical to be taken seriously as a real-life character, or as a study on manipulation and exploitation, but not near wild or daring enough to live up to its billing as the craziest Twitter story ever, ‘Zola’ sits somewhere in between as an energised 21^st century street portrait of dysfunctional frenemies and predators—a ‘vibey’ cinematic road trip which just about works as a sensory experience . . . but not much more.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Florida Project (2017)

A gritty yet comical tale of brazen behaviour and childlike innocence, set the in the seedy live-in motels in the shadow of the Disney Empire and seen through the eyes of an adorably boisterous six-year-old girl, her unruly young mother and the lives that revolve around them—in another unique meditation on the American underclass from the writer/director of ‘Tangerine’.

Directed by Sean Baker and starring Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite and Willem Dafoe among others.

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