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Zola

Zola

Comedy · Crime · Drama · 2021

A waitress agrees to accompany an exotic dancer, her put-upon boyfriend, and her mysterious and domineering roommate on a road trip to Florida to seek their fortune at a high-end strip club.

Movie details

Zola

“Y'all wanna hear a story?”

2021 Comedy · Crime · Drama 1h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

A waitress agrees to accompany an exotic dancer, her put-upon boyfriend, and her mysterious and domineering roommate on a road trip to Florida to seek their fortune at a high-end strip club.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Zola?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Heavy Traffic

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Band Aid

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Janicza Bravo

Written by

Janicza Bravo · Jeremy O. Harris · Andrew Neel · Mike Roberts

Taylour Paige

Taylour Paige

Zola

Riley Keough

Riley Keough

Stefani

Colman Domingo

Colman Domingo

X

Nicholas Braun

Nicholas Braun

Derrek

Ari'el Stachel

Ari'el Stachel

Sean

Nelcie Souffrant

Nelcie Souffrant

Gail

Nasir Rahim

Nasir Rahim

Jonathan

Court is in session

Put Zola on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.