Zola

Zola (2021) is a crime-comedy directed by Janicza Bravo, adapted from a real 148-tweet thread that went viral in 2015 — watch it online on iFILM. Taylour Paige plays Zola, a Detroit waitress who agrees to join a new friend Stefani (Riley Keough) on a quick Florida trip to dance and make money. The plan is two days. It goes sideways before they reach the motel.

Behind the weekend is a controlling, menacing figure played by Colman Domingo, Stefani's useless boyfriend along for the ride, and a situation that keeps ratcheting tighter with every hour. Bravo shoots the film in the fractured, breathless rhythm of the original tweets — short scenes, abrupt cuts, each beat landing like a notification.

What makes Zola work is that Paige's character is always the only person in the room with clear eyes. Her disbelief becomes the film's compass. Stream Zola (2021) online on iFILM.