What’s It About
A waitress agrees to accompany an exotic dancer, her put-upon boyfriend, and her mysterious and domineering roommate on a road trip to Florida to seek their fortune at a high-end strip club.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
As far as dialog goes, it don’t get no more ghetto than this. Zola is a raw, unapologetic look at how easily someone can get caught up in the world of prostitution. From the moment this film starts, it immediately forces you to become accustomed to its unique cinematic style. Every line is delivered in a straightforward manner, as realistically brash as possible while walking a fine line of artistic versus caricature. By comparison, it felt like an early Spike Lee film. This movie’s most significant difference from an early Spike Lee Joint was that it is based on a true story, or as true as a story can be written around the text messages between Zola and her (no longer) friend. The story starts simple and becomes more complicated as the film progresses. A waitress named Zola befriends a lady named Stefani, one of her restaurant customers. As they get to know each other, Stefani convinces Zola she can make more money stripping over a weekend in Florida than she makes in a month. For whatever reason, she agreed to go. Within minutes of meeting Stefani’s boyfriend and the guy driving, it was very apparent that things would not go as planned. Anyway, they arrived in Florida, and things play out like you think they would involving a person you just met. This is when the true colors of Stefani and her friends come to light. This is also when Zola truly realizes she made a huge mistake. There are times when things get so dark that it forgets it’s supposed to be a comedy, and that’s ok given the actual subject matter. Zola is a great film that takes a creative look at sex and sex trafficking. Still, I feel that the people who need to see this movie will never get the chance to because of its limited theater release or the lack of everyday conversation by regular moviegoers.
OUR RATING – A SOCIAL MEDIA 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Comedy
- Street date
- Digital – July 21st, 2021
- DVD/Blu-Ray – September 14th, 2021
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 1.85:1
- Sound – English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, Spanish
Extras
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Janicza Bravo and Editor Joi McMillon
- “Y’all Wanna Hear a Story: Making Zola” Featurette
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary