Zola (2020)
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A part-time stripper's road trip to Florida to earn extra money spirals into a dangerous and high-stakes ordeal.
The story
A'Ziah "Zola" King, a self-assured waitress and part-time stripper in Detroit, meets Stefani, an outgoing and crass fellow stripper. Stefani invites Zola to dance with her at a club that night, and the next day, Stefani proposes they embark on a road trip to Tampa, Florida, claiming they can make significant money at a secret strip club there. They set out for Tampa with Zola's mysterious roommate, X, and Stefani's dimwitted boyfriend Derrek. The journey begins with the hope of financial gain, but the situation quickly becomes complicated as the group travels toward the Florida coast.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
A'Ziah "Zola" King, a waitress and stripper in Detroit, joins her friend Stefani on a road trip to a secret club in Tampa, Florida. They are accompanied by Zola's roommate, X, and Stefani's boyfriend, Derrek. Upon arrival, Zola discovers that X is actually Stefani's pimp and that they have been advertised on Backpage. After a series of complications involving varying payout rates and a tense atmosphere, the group faces a dangerous situation when they are confronted by armed men posing as clients. During a violent confrontation, X shoots one of the attackers. The group flees to a luxury home shared by X and his partner, Baybe. In the aftermath of the violence, Derrek is injured, and the film ends with Stefani declaring her love for Zola while Zola remains silent.
- First release year
- 2020
- Runtime (minutes)
- 86
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Janicza Bravo
- Writers
- Janicza Bravo · co-writer; Jeremy O. Harris · co-writer
- Cast and characters
- Taylour Paige · Zola; Riley Keough · Stefani; Nicholas Braun · Derrek; Colman Domingo · X
- Genres
- black comedy; crime; biographical drama
- Themes
- sex industry; social media impact; danger of the road
- Tone and mood
- zany; cautionary; tense
- Setting
- Detroit and a road trip to Tampa, Florida.
- Premise and plot tags
- road trip; based on true events; black comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- A viral Twitter thread from 2015 by A'Ziah "Zola" King and the resulting Rolling Stone article by David Kushner.
- Content notes
- sex; violence
- Reception
- The film received highly positive reviews from critics, particularly praising the screenplay, performances, and editing.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 88% · scale: percentage · review count: 252; Metacritic · score: 76 · scale: 100 · review count: 46
- Awards and nominations
- Independent Spirit Award · Best Female Lead · Win; Independent Spirit Award · Best Editing · Win
- Production trivia
- The film was shot in 27 days.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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