On
October 27th, 2015, Detroit based exotic dancer Aziah “Zola” Wells
posted a Twitter thread recounting a wild larger-than-life tale of a road trip
taken with fellow stripper Jessica which went to Hell and then some really
fast. The thread went viral worldwide
and spawned an in-depth Rolling Stone article Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever
Tweeted examining the events unfolding as well as attracting the attention
of Hollywood. In the article, Zola
admitted to embellishing some of the more outlandish elements of her
account.
Now,
six years later due to COVID-19 delays, here is writer-director Janicza Bravo's
lush and deliriously entertaining adaptation of the story Zola (or @Zola) which
plays even faster and looser with the rules and plausibility than the original
Twitter thread did. Released by A24 and
co-produced by Dave Franco, the film stars Taylour Paige as the titular Zola opposite Riley Keough as Stefani, a
fellow stripper who invites Zola to join her on a road trip with her boyfriend
Derrek (Nicholas Braun) and her friend X (Colman Domingo).
As they descend from Detroit to Florida, it
turns out X posted photos of Zola and Stefani on a Backpage prostitution
ad. Zola tries to leave but is
threatened by X who in reality is Stefani’s pimp. What follows is a night of “truth” being
truly stranger than fiction as well as one of the wildest films released by A24
since Harmony Korine’s hyperkinetic masterpiece Spring Breakers.
Visually
and sonically the film is stunningly beautiful, lensed in Super 16mm by Ari
Wegner giving us some of the lushest uses of the cinematographic process since
Todd Haynes’ Carol. The soundtrack, as it happens, is by none
other than Under the Skin wunderkind
composer Mica Levi who serves up a wickedly kaleidoscopic electronic score that
sizzles and radiates on the soundscape.
All the actors give their all with Riley Keough pulling off the ratchet
bad girl vibes with her, at times, indecipherable dialect exceptionally
well. Taylour Paige absolutely knocks it
out of the park as the film’s omniscient narrator and heroine of the piece,
portraying her as vulnerable but cunning and a quick thinker who has to devise
her way out of some pretty pesky situations.
While
the subject of sex trafficking is indeed a touchy one, Zola deals with it in a way that is understated and never veers
toward exploitation. Rather the film
with its comic and hyperactive audiovisual energy and strong performances from
all involved paints a bonkers picture of the inner workings of the sex trade
from the perspective of one who witnessed (and fabricated) much of it
firsthand.
As a film it starts out in
the mold of Korine’s aforementioned Spring
Breakers before gradually growing more harrowing as Zola’s compulsively
readable-turned-watchable tale presents itself.
And the crazier things get, the more we can’t stop following this story
as it unfolds. Moreover, it depicts a
strong central heroine in the vortex of depravity somehow navigating her way
through it all. Unquestionably one of
2021’s most unexpectedly rewarding cinematic surprises!
--Andrew Kotwicki