Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Zola Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 16, 2021

Well, folks, we've arrived at a point where a viral Twitter thread can serve as the basis for a screenplay, and to that phenomenon I say: why not? When a woman named Aziah "Zola" King started Tweeting about a (mis?)adventure she had had in Florida (of course), the posts quickly became an internet sensation (how do these things happen?), and soon enough Rolling Stone was on hand with a really engaging account of the whole situation in a piece by David Kushner entitled The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted. Now anyone who has ever gone down any number of different varieties of social media rabbit holes will have acres of content to share with you, but the bottom line is it's often easy to find "characters" in these (ostensible) real life scenarios that match anything created by the finest minds of this or any generation. In that regard, it's undeniable that the real life Zola has a very distinctive voice and probably obviously persona, which ports over to this cinematic version in typically raucous and at times intentionally provocative style. That said, Zola may not be everyone's cup of tea (and/or THC, as the case may be), in an absolutely gonzo tale that includes a road trip by brand new kinda sorta besties and various hangers on, with a kind of tawdry if admittedly hilarious prostitution subplot that, from reading some ancillary articles linked to the original Zola tweets (including the Rolling Stone article linked to above), some who were involved in the overall shenanigans dispute. Somewhat cheekily, Zola addresses this in what might be thought of as its own version of Rashomon, albeit transported to Florida and involving strippers who may or may not be involved in any number of other escapades.

Much as you can join a post in what amounts to in medias res, without much context or background, Zola jumps right into it with Zola (Taylour Paige) and Stefani (Riley Keough) making themselves up next to each other, while Zola delivers a kind of odd aside apparently to the audience letting them know she's going to detail what went wrong with her relationship with Stefani. It should be understood from the get go for anyone harboring any delusions in this regard that Zola's verbiage is decidedly provocative, and the film is a virtual litany of expletives, though it again seems to be a perfectly natural reflection of the real Zola, or at least the real Zola's social media presence.

That feeling of not quite understanding what's going on continues apace for a while as the initial meeting between Stefani and Zola takes place at a Hooters like restaurant where Zola works. Co-adapter and director Janicza Bravo starts working in little visual jokes here, with a heart glyph obviously alluding to a spark between the two women (kind of hilariously, the heart will be repeated later in a decidedly more graphic way during a prostitution montage, and, yes, I just said prostitution montage).

As patently absurd as it may sound, I kept thinking of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar as I watched Zola, kinda sorta hoping that there could be some sort of "crossover" event getting the quartet of females together. That may be said in jest, of course, but the fact is Zola has the same sort of cartoonish lunacy surrounding two women on a road trip that the Wiig-Mumalo film does, and the rather remarkable thing is that Zola at least pretends to be somewhat factually based. Again as with Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, the completely gonzo context surrounds the focus of the story, which is the developing relationship between the two central females. Paige and Keough are well matched here, with Keough's Stefanie a study in what might be termed "white trashiness" (at least from Zola's perspective), and Zola a study in half reticent disbelief that she has to deal with all of this you-know-what.

Even with such memorable women at the core of the film, Zola also benefits from some really fun performances at the edges of the story, with Nicholas Braun as Derrek, Stefani's more or less boyfriend, offering some of the film's best deadpan comedy. Considerably more threatening and yet perhaps unexpectedly likable is Colman Domingo as X, a guy who is revealed to be a pimp with a business plan.

Zola Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Zola is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The film was shot on 16mm and finished at a 2K DI, and the results are a suitably gritty, lo-fi looking presentation that admirably mirrors the lifestyles on display. Detail levels are quite winning throughout despite the smaller format and some less than optimal lighting conditions, and really only some very dimly lit or graded material can suffer measurably from deficits in fine detail. A lot of the close-up work offers generally great detail levels. Some of the animated add ons are a bit rough looking, which I assume was a stylistic choice. Grain can be just a bit mottled looking at times, with a slightly yellowish cast, but resolves without any major issues.

Zola Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Zola features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is consistently energetic, buoyed by some fun underscore by Mica Levi. The road trip aspect gives the track some breathing room, and there are good ambient environmental effects dotting both the outdoor scenes, but even some interior locations like a strip joint the girls visit, or even a convenience market where one scene plays out. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Zola Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary With Writer / Director Janicza Bravo and Editor Joi McMillon


• Y'All Wanna Hear a Story: The Making of @Zola (HD; 12:37) is a fun EPK with some good interviews, including with the real life Zola.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 5:37) can be played with an optional commentary by Janicza Bravo and Joi McMillon.

Zola Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is really a propos of nothing other than my interest in marketing and/or orthography, but the cover of this release as well as its actual credits sequence lists its title as @Zola, and yet many online databases (including our own here at this site) remove the "@" symbol from the title of the film. That little "@" may hint at the source for this raucous tale, and may at least invite a little investigation by those interested to uncover Zola's original tweets, which have now entered the Internet Hall of Fame. This is not a film for anyone with an aversion to lots of bad language and/or bad behavior, but for those with such tolerances, Zola is a road trip like no other. Technical merits are solid, and Zola comes Recommended.