Zola (2021)

Directed by Janicza Bravo. Starring Riley Keough, Taylour Paige, Colman Domingo, Nicholas Braun, Jason Mitchell, Sophie Hall. [R]

It was probably only a matter of time—a commercial motion picture being based not on a piece of great literature, or even a trashy page-turner, but a series of Tweets—but ending up as a weirdly engrossing jolt of hyper-embellished fact proves that it wasn’t a terrible idea after all. The line between black comedy and harrowing danger evaporates in the hands of these coarse walking stereotypes, but if the K-Mart shoe fits… Said stereotypes include the titular part-time stripper (Paige) who can’t turn down a chance to make big bucks dancing for a few nights in Tampa with a crass, flaky acquaintance (Keough) she recently met, joined on the road by Keough’s slow-witted doormat of a “boyfriend” (Braun) and her roommate who turns out to be her pimp (Domingo). The audience feels Zola’s anxiety as she is thrown into one nerve-wracking scenario after another, her expression attempting to remain as stone-faced as possible while racked with quivering terror and utter disgust, and sympathy is generated even for those who probably had it coming or those who misappropriate cultures in boorish detail (Keough could have been a punchline—or punching bag—for her “blaccent” alone). Yet it’s still first and foremost a comedy of shocking escalations and deadpan commentary, and although the stylized filmcraft and sound design (tweet tweet) softens the impact, and perhaps even cheapens the sad realities of prostitution, sex trafficking, etc., the film emerges a small, disarming winner. Co-produced by Dave Franco; his brother, James, had bought the move rights to the “Twitter story” and was initially slated to direct before being replaced by Bravo.

75/100