{"id":9902,"date":"2024-12-10T23:47:03","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=9902"},"modified":"2024-12-10T23:47:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:47:03","slug":"zola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/12\/10\/zola\/","title":{"rendered":"Zola"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Zola<\/strong> (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A24\/Comedy-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 86 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong sexual content and language throughout, graphic nudity, violence including a sexual assault)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Janicza Bravo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mica Levi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ari Wegner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 30, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo, Ari\u2019el Stachel, Jason Mitchell, Ts Madison, Sophie Hall.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $5.2M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Is it possible to hate everything about a film, yet still appreciate what it\u2019s going for? In the case of Zola<\/strong> (aka @Zola), a sad commentary on Twitter culture, it is. I absolutely despised the four main characters. They are the biggest bunch of stupid a**holes I\u2019ve seen in movie since the teens in 2001\u2019s Bully. There\u2019s not a single redeeming quality among them. Combined, their IQs equal less than 100. Like most of their generation, they live their lives on social media. If it happens IRW, it doesn\u2019t count unless you post it as its happening or immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If there\u2019s drama, it must be related in a series of tweets. That\u2019s how Zola<\/strong> came to be. The screenplay is based on a Twitter thread that went viral in 2015. The tweets, 148 in all, were posted by Aziah \u201cZola\u201d King, a waitress\/part-time stripper dragged into a messy situation by a new friend. Although I have a Twitter page, I never go on there. I was not aware of Zola\u2019s on-line story until I read of it in the opening titles. It\u2019s quite a tale, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Zola, played by Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey\u2019s Black Bottom), invites us in by asking \u201cY\u2019all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It\u2019s kind of long but full of suspense.\u201d The bitch she\u2019s referring to is Stefani (Keough, American Honey), a train wreck of a young woman who speaks fluent white girl ghetto-ese. Zola first meets her when she takes her order at the sports bar and grill where she works. They quickly become friends. The next day, Stefani invites Zola to take a road trip to Tampa with her for a promising stripping gig at a club. They\u2019re joined by Stefani\u2019s dimwitted \u201cboyfriend\u201d Derrick (Braun, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and unnamed roommate (Domingo, Fear the Walking Dead) who \u201ctakes care of her\u201d. Obviously, he\u2019s her pimp. It soon becomes clear it\u2019s all a set-up. Stefani and \u201cX\u201d (as he\u2019s identified in the credits) lured Zola there with the promise of fast, easy money with the intention of tricking her into turning tricks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Of the four characters, Zola has the most sense which really isn\u2019t saying much. The sensible middle-ager in me would like to know why she\u2019d willingly take a trip with a people she just met. Isn\u2019t that asking for trouble? ANYWAY, the story gets crazier as the weekend devolves into a series of misadventures involving guns, clients, sex-for-money, an attempted robbery, a shooting and a botched suicide. It\u2019s supposed to be comical and I might have laughed if I didn\u2019t find the characters in Zola<\/strong> so unappealing. I really didn\u2019t like these people. Watching them in action, I\u2019m reminded how little I understand about this generation. Half the time, I don\u2019t understand what they\u2019re saying. As for what they post on social media, I\u2019m simultaneously befuddled and appalled. There\u2019s a scene in Zola<\/strong> where Stefani and Derrick film a video of themselves singing and jumping around to \u201cHannah Montana\u201d in the car. There\u2019s a lot of tongue sticking-out and booty-shaking. They look like imbeciles. I\u2019m willing to concede my dislike of this form of amusement is a generational thing, that I\u2019m too old to \u201cget it\u201d, but if my teenage goddaughter ever posted something like that on Instagram, I\u2019d be furious. Thank God she\u2019s too much of a lady for that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As much as I detest the characters, I have to admit the actors playing them give good performances. Keough is the real stand-out. Her character Stefani is a real piece of work. She is the personification of trash. She\u2019s selfish, manipulative, immature and nasty. She has an annoying voice. She always speaks with this exaggerated, culturally-appropriated accent. I just wanted her to shut up and stop talking. That, my friends, is a sign of an exceptional performance. Provoking such an intense reaction from yours truly is an amazing feat. As unreliable narrator Zola, Paige does solid work too. She might not be the brightest bulb in the pack, but she\u2019s smarter than the nitwits around her. Colman is also good as X, a guy who can shift into dangerous mode at a second\u2019s notice. You know he means business when he affects an African accent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Stylistically, Zola<\/strong> evokes 70s-era filmmaking with its gritty cinematography and opening titles featuring the Roman numeral copyright date under the title. It\u2019s very atmospheric with its surroundings. A huge liquor store takes on a surreal quality with Derrick aimlessly wandering the aisles while waiting to hear back from Stefani. There are recurring images of dark roads, blurry stoplights and hotels, all of which emphasize the lonely, empty lives of the main characters. At the same time, it\u2019s every bit a 21st<\/sup> century film with the key role social media plays in the narrative. Sentences are constantly punctuated by chirps familiar to Twitter users. At one point, the film briefly changes perspectives so Stefani can tell her side of the story. The way she presents herself as a good Christian girl clad in pink is something else. She utters one line that will surely land her a few weeks in Hell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed and co-written by relative newcomer Janicza Bravo (most of her work is in television), Zola<\/strong> is bold and daring while consistently getting on your nerves. It doesn\u2019t paint a flattering portrait of the social media generation. In fact, it affirms what many say about each generation being dumber than the last. I mostly sat in stunned silence as Zola<\/strong> unfolded. I couldn\u2019t believe the dumb things these young people said and did. When I see such things, I weep for the future. I thought I hated Zola<\/strong>, but now that I\u2019ve had time to ponder, maybe I don\u2019t. I hated the characters, but the film itself is kind of interesting. I might have to watch it again although I\u2019m not sure if I want to spend any additional time with Zola and the gang.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zola (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A24\/Comedy-Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 86 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong sexual content and language throughout, graphic nudity, violence including a sexual assault)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Janicza Bravo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Mica Levi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ari Wegner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 30, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo, Ari\u2019el Stachel, Jason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Zola-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9902"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10237,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9902\/revisions\/10237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}