Janicza Bravo's "Zola"

TONIGHT’S FILM.

JANICZA BRAVO’S “ZOLA”

WHAT IT IS.

A spoiler-free description of the movie.

A woman goes on a road trip with a new friend. Based on a true story, originally told in a viral 148-tweet thread in 2015.

IF YOU LIKE.

If you like these things, then you’ll like the film.

▶ Breaking the fourth wall. If you don’t like when the characters talk to the camera, you’ll be up in arms.

▶ Atmospheric cinematography. Like, turning a dinky Floridian liquor store into something that feels expansive and endlessly colorful.

▶ The old twitter. Try to remember what the internet was like in 2015. This movie plays like an ode to this slightly younger, more fun(?) internet.

▶ Sex work. There’s sex work and abuse and objectification and such.

MY TAKE.

What I liked about it.

In 2015, nineteen year-old A'Ziah "Zola" King took to Twitter to tell an outrageous story. In her words: “it’s kinda long, but it's full of suspense.” The story she authored was heartbreaking and horrifying and hysterical.

Her tweets handily arrested the oft-fickle attention of the internet. Soon after, she agreed to do a tell all interview with The Rolling Stone’s David Kushner: “Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted”.²

Let’s get this out of the way first: watch the movie, then read the tweets.³ This is the order, if you can help it.

Janicza Bravo’s “Zola” is a gorgeous, original piece of filmmaking based on King’s Twitter-told saga. The movie balances grit and realism with a sort of dreamlike, effervescent feel. Its peppered with the (now extinct) sound of a tweet going out into the world. Remember that fun little whistle?

Most impressive is the way Bravo represents King’s original perspective and tone from the source material. In fact, Bravo has been credited with relentlessly fighting through the Hollywood bureaucracy to ensure King was properly compensated for her story and included in the film’s production process.⁴

No surprise, the result is a film that has the authentic “can you believe that s***?” quality that made King’s original tale one of strength, humor, and intrigue. A film that never reduces “Zola” into a tale of victimhood; a move that would be far out of line with the spirit of the aforementioned source material.

Taylour Paige and Riley Keough each turn in brave performances. Paige is tasked with providing levity in the film’s most tense scenes without taking away from the present danger of the circumstances. Keough is a stand-in for the sort of cultural theft that Black America is often subjected to. Neither is a particularly safe or easy role to play.

Oh, and Colman Domingo is characteristically dominant in his performance. His convincing “0 to 10” supplies all the required tension that makes so much of this film work. Always simmering, teetering right on the edge.

Janicza Bravo’s “Zola” was the very first film to be based solely on a series of tweets. And with Twitter’s untimely death in 2023, it was likely the last. More than that, it’s an acrobat of a film; a tight rope walk between the absurd and the dangerous and the unbelievable and the hysterical.

For these reasons and more, it’s worth a watch. Enjoy the film.

OH, NEAT.

A fact or two about the production that makes you say “oh, neat”.

▶ James Franco originally secured the rights to direct “Zola” in 2016, but the production was shelved following sexual misconduct allegations against him.⁵ Soon after, Janicza Bravo signed on to direct with A24.⁶

▶ The movie was shot using Kodak 16mm film (analog, not digital). According to Ari Wegner, the cinematographer: “Janicza wanted a look that was playful and knowing but also uncomfortably real. A look where we could highlight the strength and athleticism of this character, follow her sliding from a dream into a nightmare…”⁷

THE ONER.

One great line of dialogue from the film.