“You wanna hear a story about why me and this b--ch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”

On paper (or on an iPhone screen), “Zola” sounds like one of the worst ever ideas for a feature-length film. Based on a real-life Twitter thread between a Hooters waitress and a stripper, this stranger than fiction story played out over social media in 2015 — and damn if it doesn’t make for a wildly original, outrageously entertaining movie.

Zola (Taylour Paige) meets Stefani (Riley Keough) at a restaurant in Detroit, where the two begin chatting about their common interest: pole da... read the rest.

Full review: https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/american-nightmare-zola-review

Janicza Bravo’s long-awaited star of Sundance, @zola, could not feel more timely, despite the year-long delay. Adapted from the viral Twitter thread of 2015 by Aziah “Zola” King, @zola tells the story of a trip to Tampa gone horribly wrong. After a chance meeting in a Detroit restaurant, Zola (an impeccable Taylour Paige) agrees to accompany Stefani (Riley Keough), Stefani’s roommate X (Colman Domingo), and Stefani’s boyfriend (Nicolas Braun) on a trip to Tampa to earn money... read the rest.

Different, but I actually liked it.

'Zola' takes a few scenes to get into it and to get used to the stylistic choices, namely with the editing and dialogue, though by the end I did in fact enjoy this film. It's a bonkers story, one that I semi heard about when it became known that a film was going to be made based on a thread of tweets.

It's probably much better than it was any right to be in truth, all things considered, but the filmmakers made it work and deserve credit for that - and also for the astutely chosen short run time, too.

The acting talent bring noteworthy perfor... read the rest.