Movie Review

Film Review: ZOLA (2020): A Dark, Wild Ride with an Amazing Performance by Riley Keough

Riley Keough Taylour Paige Zola x

Zola Review

Zola (2020) Film Review, a movie directed by Janicza Bravo, and starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Ari’el Stachel, Colman Domingo, Jason Mitchell, Ts Madison, Megan Hayes, Tony Demil, Nasir Rahim, Nelcie Souffrant, Ben Bladon and Ernest Emmanuel Peeples.

148 tweets were posted by a Detroit waitress named A’Ziah “Zola” King on October 27, 2015. What was happening during the course of those “tweets” has inspired Janicza Bravo’s tremendously intriguing new film, Zola. A movie that holds your interest throughout is good but one that has you wondering which way the plot will turn next in every single scene is even better. Riley Keough delivers the best performance of her career playing Stefani, a very eccentric blonde, who befriends Zola (Taylour Paige) as the film’s story begins.

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Stefani invites Zola to come with her to Florida to make thousands of dollars stripping. When Zola agrees, she is picked up by a car containing Stefani, her boyfriend Derrick (Nicholas Braun) and X (Colman Domingo). X “takes care” of Stefani. Zola starts off her new stripping gig with a few crumbled up dollars, nothing too great.

Stefani takes pictures of herself and Zola in the dressing room at the strip club. Zola is then informed that an ad has gone up on Backpage and that they’ll be moving on to their next phase: turning tricks. Zola wants no part of prostitution. Stefani’s first client pays her $150 for sex but Zola, who X forces to stay with them after she tries to leave, ups the price to $500 per client. Stefani ends the night with eight grand. While all this is happening, Derrick is getting himself in trouble trying to find Stefani’s whereabouts. Stefani is not answering her phone. Derrick is not the sharpest tool in the shed, to put it gently.

As the film’s plot progresses, Stefani and Zola get into more trouble than they imagined as X keeps Stefani working and has Zola in charge of setting the prices and cutting the deals. X gives Zola money but not Stefani. When Stefani asks for some cash, X tells her that he takes care of her and that she should be grateful. That’s one of the most powerful scenes in the picture with Keough’s character of Stefani truly getting some sympathy here while in the rest of the picture, you may think she’s merely a “ditz.”

Ts Madison plays, in a very brief turn early in the picture, Hollywood who prays that God sends the strippers men with good credit so the girls can make plenty of cash. Madison has very little screen time but she hits it out of the park with the little time she does have.

Riley Keough is simply astonishing here. When it comes time to hear Stefani’s side of the story, she talks herself up to be a church-going girl who was played by Zola. It’s quite amusing. Keough’s character could be written off as stupid but Keough gives her extra dimensions that make us feel somewhat sorry for her at times. Another actress may not have been able to do this with the potentially totally unlikable role of Stefani. I’d like to suggest that Keough be considered for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination due to the complexity of her performance. It may not happen but to say she doesn’t deserve to be a contender would be untrue.

Taylour Paige has the less showy role of Zola who is the voice of reason. Zola is dragged into this situation and is essentially kidnapped. Paige handles the role extremely well with the audience easily able to sympathize for her predicament. But, again, Zola cuts the deals in the film so she, unfortunately, becomes a criminal. Paige’s characterization is very authentic throughout.

Colman Domingo as X is frighteningly realistic as the pimp who doesn’t know when to walk away and who also doesn’t answer his phone when things go haywire. When Stefani and Zola end up with clients requesting a tall order, X is nowhere to be found to help them negotiate the price.

Zola is a fantastic piece of film-making by a gifted director. Janicza Bravo has made a film that many directors would shy away from making. It should be seen. With its powerful storyline and solid performances, it’s one of the better films you’ll see this summer.

Rating: 9/10

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Thomas Duffy

Thomas Duffy is a graduate of the Pace University New York City campus and has been an avid movie fan all of his life. In college, he interviewed film stars such as Minnie Driver and Richard Dreyfuss as well as directors such as Tom DiCillo and Mark Waters. He is the author of nine works of fiction available on Amazon. He's been reviewing movies since his childhood and posts his opinions on social media. You can follow him on Twitter. His user handle is @auctionguy28.
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