With Zola, out this summer, A24 is bringing a now-classic Twitter thread into the world of cinema with director Janicza Bravo.
The semi-biographical film stars Taylour Paige as A’Ziah “Zola” King and Riley Keough as Stefani. After the two first meet at a restaurant, as anyone who recalls the viral tweets from the real-life Zola already knows, they embark on a wild Florida-bound journey together.
Zola, which had its global premiere at the 2020 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, is directed by Janicza Bravo. Bravo penned the script with Jeremy O. Harris, the acclaimed playwright behind Slave Play and Daddy: A Melodrama. Paige and Keough are joined in the cast by Ari’el Stachel, Colman Domingo, and Succession’s resident Greg (and mid-pandemic hitmaker) Nicholas Braun.
Catch the new Zola trailer up top. A24 is dropping the full experience on June 30. And while anyone who’s been even remotely tuned in to the Twitterverse in recent years won’t need it, here’s the official synopsis:
“Zola (newcomer Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa gangsters and other unexpected adventures in this wild, see-it-to-believe-it tale.”
Upon its Sundance unveiling last year, praise for Zola—which arrives roughly six years after King’s platform-defining Twitter thread—was immediate and rapturous. At the time, A24 was fresh off the success of the Adam Sandler-led Uncut Gems, which I shouldn’t have to remind you still absolutely rules.
