‘You wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch here fell out?‘
Sadly not a biopic of Chelsea maestro Gianfranco Zola, but rather the kind of concept that will no doubt have certain sections of the internet howling in indignation. A film based on a viral Twitter thread?? Goddamn millennials. Or something. Clearly, this has no bearing on the quality of the film. A Twitter thread can be just as compelling and worthy as a Guardian Long Read, and so it proves with Zola…
Zola (Taylour Paige) meets fellow stripper Stefani (Riley Keough) in a restaurant and the two embark on a misguided trip to Tampa, Florida to make some money. What Zola doesn’t know is that Stefani is beholden to her violent pimp, X (Colman Domingo) and Tampa, Florida holds nothing but sex, violence and Cousin Greg. Yes! Nicholas Braun is in the movie, and of course, he provides all the funniest moments.
I never caught the original Twitter thread that inspired Zola, but I do know that this is a captivating story that manages to weave together horror, romance and comedy into something cohesive and gripping. No mean feat from writer/director Janicza Bravo. Aside from Braun’s naïve white boy, Paige and Keough share a believably toxic chemistry while Domingo steals the show as a code-switching, volatile thug. It is the performances that elevate Zola from a curio to something genuinely enthralling.
Ignore the snobbery, ignore the hype also, but do add Zola to your watchlist. It’s a whole lot of fun.