Zola: A Modern Odyssey

In October of 2015, A’ziah “Zola” King published a 128-tweet thread that would not only change her life overnight, but shift how millions of people viewed sex work in real time. The story and the charismatic way in which it was told instantly caught fire, on and beyond social media. She told a story of friendship, betrayal, modern femininity, and seedy underbellies all in the format of a Twitter thread. Her voice was confident and unique. It’s no wonder that industry insiders like James Franco and A24 wanted the film rights to this story. After Franco dropped from the project in 2017, Lemon filmmaker Janicza Bravo knew she had to tell this story. Making sure to involve A’ziah King as much as possible, Bravo took this project in a more intimate and personal direction.

The first reaction to a film based on social media is probably groans and eye rolls. It just sounds superficial. How could a hellscape like Twitter ever produce anything compelling enough to make a film? Director Janicza Bravo uses these early internet aesthetics and King’s unflinching voice to create a mirror of our modern world. Zola is about all the subtle ways that the internet (specifically social media) leaks into our everyday lives. Zola is set in 2015 and has all of the era-accurate aesthetics and lingo to boot, yet it’s very much commenting on our current moment (or at least where we were headed). The internet has always been an unregulated wasteland that promotes the worst of human behaviors. As the internet bleeds into our everyday routine, that harmful baggage comes right along with it. Is that an internet problem or a humanity problem? In my opinion, the internet is just the microscope. By 2015, we were all forced to look at it.

Zola is a masterclass in breaking the cinematic rulebook. From the very first scene, we’re clued into how playful and unconventional this film is. A classy harp plays over dreamy footage of Zola (Taylour Page) and Stefani (Riley Keough) getting dressed and made up in front of two beauty mirrors. Zola turns to the camera and utters the same words that kicked off the original thread of tweets: “Ya’ll wanna hear a story about why me and this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” The Twitter notification sound then plays over a needle drop as we are thrust into our story. This film isn’t just an adaptation of these tweets. It acts as a companion piece to them. Every time a major piece of the Twitter thread happens in the film, that Twitter notification chirps on in the background.

The most surreal moment of Zola is also the funniest. Riley Keough as Stefani stops our story in its tracks. She stares at the camera and brazenly parrots Zola’s opening line. We cut straight to a retelling of events, all from Stefani’s perspective. Keough is hilarious here as Stefani claims innocence and tries to pin Zola as the mastermind of this trip. This section of the film is based on real Reddit posts that were posted in response to the tweets. This scene is not only another example of unconventional filmmaking, but it also shows that Bravo’s interest in this story goes beyond the surface level. Not every director would have included this scene, yet Bravo knew she needed it.

Shot on gorgeous 16 MM, Zola looks like a hazy dream. This stylistic choice gives the film a palpable energy, and it also helps us slow down when we need to. Some of my favorite shots in the entire thing are just the car driving against a beautiful pink sky. There’s a melancholy underneath all of the chaos on screen that those quiet moments beautifully convey. The feelings that sit under all of the fluorescent lights and loud trap music. The people whose lives are being documented in those songs.

Music plays an important role in Zola. The soundtrack, filled with classic trap songs from the 2010s, acts as a second narrator.  Tracks like Migo’s Hannah Montana join our characters on their way to Florida. Not only are the choices era accurate, but they speak to Zola’s mood and comfort level throughout her journey. When Hannah Montana plays, we’re still at the early stages of this trip. Nothing too out of the ordinary has presented itself yet. It’s a group of new friends, jamming out to a song as they barrel down a highway towards Miami. Our perspective shifts to iPhone footage during this scene as we watch our cast (mostly awkwardly) sing along to the trap classic. Zola joins in, dancing and singing, and it’s obvious that she feels like an outsider. The look on her face is one of subtle discomfort. The songs continually get louder and more intense as Zola learns more about her new friends.

Janicza Bravo had a near-impossible task when helming Zola. This isn’t just a film about the internet or the mid 2010’s; Zola is a movie about sex trafficking. That’s not an easy subject to tackle, especially in a film as fun as Zola. It strikes the perfect balance of taking its subject seriously while not allowing the energy to ever dissipate. The sex trafficking present in Zola is not how it’s been presented in other films. There aren’t militant kidnappings or huge shootouts; it’s much more casual than that. The evil is easy to miss at first. Stefani’s “friend” (pimp) X is intimidating but initially deemed harmless by Zola. It isn’t until later that she finds out what he’s really involved in. Coleman Domingo adds a malevolent charm to his role of X that shows exactly how someone like Zola or Stefani could end up in this underbelly. They go in seeking connection and a foot in the door and leave (if they’re lucky) scarred and traumatized.

Zola features an amazing cast. We have a mix of character acting veterans (future Academy Award nominee Coleman Domingo), young stars branching out (Riley Keough of Mad Max: Fury Road), and impressive new faces (Taylour Paige, later of Magazine Dreams). Taylour Paige is particularly brilliant in the titular role of Zola. She’s incredibly natural and empathetic in her portrayal of Zola. Having seen interviews with Aziah King, it’s obvious that Paige spent a lot of time thinking about her subject. From the smallest facial expressions to speaking cadence, Taylour Paige deftly inhabits this role. Every little move communicates how uncomfortable Zola is around these people. Even when she’s dancing with them, she’s conserved. She side-eyes the camera when Stefani’s boyfriend, Derrek (Nicholas Braun of Succession), takes videos. She wishes she could go invisible as Stefani rants to her in a blatant blaccent. Taylour Paige’s committed performance led the way in bringing these tweets to life.

Riley Keough isn’t a stranger to a role like this. In Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, she plays a similarly shady character who uses manipulative tactics to convince people to join her road trips. In Zola, she turns the knob all the way up. Bravo and Keough carefully walk the tightrope between accurate portrayal and offensive caricature. Her Stefani is outlandish and obnoxious but still completely knowable. This is propped up through her interactions with her ‘friend’ (pimp) X. Coleman Domingo is excellent here. His character is like a fuse, slowly burning until the eventual explosion. When the mask falls, and X reveals his true character, Domingo flips from cautiously charming to downright terrifying. A particular exchange between X and Zola in a car is a standout, showcasing the range required in the role of X.

Set just five years before it was made, Zola makes it apparent just how much truly changed between 2015 and 2020. Many of the early internet artifacts referenced just don’t exist anymore. Twitter is no longer the colorful bird-branded app it once was; it has now been reduced to a single letter and an unrecognizable minimalist design. Backpages, the website X uses to sell out Zola and Stefani, has become a distant memory, despite its decade-long reputation on the darker edges of the internet. A site that allowed for the exploitation of thousands of women is now just a forgotten fad, in the same pile as MySpace. There are probably countless stories like Zola’s that exist out there. Real life accounts that are now just faded memories, lost on forums, and scattered in memories.

It’s a shame that this film came out when it did. Zola premiered at Sundance in the wonderful year of 2020, mere months before COVID-19 ravaged the world and trapped us in our homes. What should have been a huge summer hit kind of just came and went as theaters were opening back up in mid 2021. Zola has the potential to be a cross-generational classic about the internet and how our lives have changed because of it. Instead, it maintains a “if you know, you know” status between internet historians and die hard A24 fans. There is definitely a larger audience for this film out there.

In 2026, the world that Zola captures is almost unrecognizable. The mid 2010’s was a transition. We were collectively moving away from the Obama era optimism towards a cultural cynicism that we are now seeing the full ramifications of. Music was getting slower and darker. Blockbusters were losing bombast and becoming more cerebral. Our social media feeds were starting to favor anger and hatred over support and community. We didn’t quite know it then, but we were on a one-way trip to cultural apathy. Zola is the fun road trip before we meet our horrific destination.

Sometimes there are lesser-known films that you want to keep to yourselves, and other times you want to scream about these films to whoever will listen to them. Zola is certainly the latter. One of those films that deserves much more attention than it currently receives. As the film continues to live on through streamers and memorable clips, hopefully, it gains the cult classic status it rightly deserves.