It’s time we find out why Zola fell out with that bitch (aka #TheStory)
The twitter feed spread across twitter like a wildfire that everyone was talking about when two women fell out on a March 27th (2015) weekend hoe trip to Tampa. Zola shared all the deets and all of were reading with baited breath. It’s gone from Twitter to Rolling Stone Magazine and now A24 has brought it to theatres June 30th.
I remember the salacious #TheStory by Aziah ‘Zola’ King on twitter back in 2015. it had delightful twists & turns and really reminded me of ‘frenemies’ from my youth (no hoe trips making money sad to say). I never imagined it would leap from my phone to a theatre but thanks to A24 here we are!
This puts ‘Florida woman’ front and center with a heady mix of drama, mystery and comedy from a Black woman’s POV surrounded by people that were up to no damn good!
From the moment I saw Taylour Paige (Zola) I was mesmerized by a woman who is just trying to make a living who happens to cross paths with Riley Keough (Stefani) and Colman Domingo (X). They tempt Zola with promises of money raining down the stripper pole for just a weekend of work. The moment Zola says yes we all go on a wild ride where Stefani uses woman friendship to worm her way into her confidence. The group is rounded out by Nicholas Braun (Derrek) who is Stefani’s boyfriend who drops a few nuggets of just how much trouble Zola is in throughout the movie. The film picks up an air of menace once Zola is out of town in the back of X’s car with nowhere to go and he ‘lays down the law’ of the hoe trip is about and his expectations. Colman really inhabits the role of using sweetness and utter willingness of violent threats when she doesn’t fall in line. Watching the film and seeing myself in Zola I felt her fear and resolve to do what was necessary to get out of the situation and back home.
Janicza Bravo is the director and co-writer with Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play) that are able to keep the one liner quick and keeps a fine line between horror and comedy with more sex than I realized. Watching the movie, it’s not made for the male gaze (when you see the film you’ll get it) from how the camera pans over the women but without it being invasive and (well) gross like so many other movies. It has a feminist bent to it but underlying is the ‘White woman’ get out of jail card where Stefani uses all the tricks to manipulate Zola and Derrek to follow along (to a certain degree) and tries to behave like a victim.
I enjoyed Zola and the NC-17 rating makes perfect sense with the nudity, violence and other acts that will keep you on the edge of your seat and talking about the film for days. It’s not often that a film like this is centered on a Black woman and Taylour Paige was the perfect woman. She was able to play along for laughs like so many of us have had to do when with our White Girlfriends and let stuff roll off our back. This movie is a ‘hey sis I see you’ and some ways the women act will go over your head if you’re not in the know. As a woman (of any race) you have to decided should I fight or become passive it’s something that we go through all the time and most men won’t get it but when added being a Black woman and not sure who you can reach out to for help … well Zola had a knot in my stomach until the credits ran.
I really really really enjoyed this movie and hope that you will go see it and talk about it.
Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nelcie Souffrant, Nasir Rahim, Amelia Rose Monteagudo, Ari’el Stachel, Colman Domingo, Nick Braun, Jason Mitchell, TS Madison, Tommy Foxhill
Production: An A24 release and production. Producers: Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Gia Walsh, Kara Baker, Vince Jolivette, Elizabeth Haggard, Dave Franco. Executive producers: A’Ziah-Monae “Zola” King, Jennifer Konawal, David Kushner. Co-producer: Allison Rose Carter
Crew: Director: Janicza Bravo. Screenplay: Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris, based on the tweets by A’Ziah-Monae “Zola” King and the article “Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted” by David Kushner. Camera: Ari Wegner. Editor: Joi McMillon
Music: Mica Levi
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