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.
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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.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
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?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their objectionThe 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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An ultraconservative police officer suffers a debilitating stroke and is assigned to a rehabilitative program that includes singing lessons - with the drag queen next door.
Family Weekend
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A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Comedy · 1969
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
...All the Marbles
Comedy · 1981
A two-bit promoter tries to take a women's wrestling team to the top.
Choke
Comedy · 2008
A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.
School Dance
Comedy · 2014
High schooler Jason has found his dream girl—the gorgeous Anastacia. There’s just one problem: she doesn’t know he exists. If he can win a spot on the school’s hottest dance crew, Jason might have a shot. But before he does, he’ll have to overcome his battle-ax of a mother, survive Anastacia’s gangsta brother, and pass the crew’s initiation—in this fresh, sexy, and outrageously funny comedy.
Bully
Crime · 2001
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
O Lucky Man!
Comedy · 1973
An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures seemingly designed to challenge his naive idealism.
Boys Don't Cry
Crime · 1999
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Cleveland Abduction
Crime · 2015
A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Janicza Bravo
Written by
Janicza Bravo · Jeremy O. Harris · Andrew Neel · Mike Roberts
Taylour Paige
Zola
Riley Keough
Stefani
Colman Domingo
X
Nicholas Braun
Derrek
Ari'el Stachel
Sean
Nelcie Souffrant
Gail
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 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.