As "Zola" (2020 release; 86 min.) opens, Zola and Stephanie accidentally meet in a restaurant, and for reasons unclear and unknown, they strike up an immediate friendship. The next day, Stephanie invites Zola to come along on an impromptu trip to Florida, "to go dancing". Turns out that they are not alone, as Stephanie's boyfriend is along, as well as a guy whose role we don't understand at first... At this point we are 10 min. Into the film.
Couple of comments: at the beginning of the movie, we are reminded that in October, 2015, Zola released over 100 Tweets about her Florida trip with a friend (those Tweets formed the basis upon which the movie is based). We then dive into the story. Based on the movie's trailer, I was expecting something like "American Honey", but this movie ain't no "American Honey". Frankly, I don't know what to make of this. Here is what bothered me the most: we watch the two female leads for 90 min. At the end of the movie, I still had little to no insight on who these people were, what makes them tick, and why they do what they do. In other words: little to no character development that I noticed. One could argue that the story is such a wild story, and a wild story it is, and hence no character development is needed, but I take issue with that. While I was watching the film, I thought to myself that this seemed like a project that suits James Franco. Wouldn't you know! As I read up on the film after seeing this, apparently he was originally attached to direct this (he was booted after sexual misconduct allegations). Anyway, I must admit, I am scratching my head as to why this movie has garnered so much acclaim, as frankly the movie did little (ok, nothing) for me.
"Zola" was filmed in Fall of 2018, yes, over 2 1/2 years ago. It premiered at the 2020 Sundance film festival, and then of course a little thing called COVID-19 wrecked the entire industry. "Zola" finally opened in theaters last weekend. The Thursday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended poorly (3 people including myself). Honestly I can't see this playing in theaters much longer, for that the movie is too "off center" and frankly too poor. But don't take my word for it! Go check it out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: at the beginning of the movie, we are reminded that in October, 2015, Zola released over 100 Tweets about her Florida trip with a friend (those Tweets formed the basis upon which the movie is based). We then dive into the story. Based on the movie's trailer, I was expecting something like "American Honey", but this movie ain't no "American Honey". Frankly, I don't know what to make of this. Here is what bothered me the most: we watch the two female leads for 90 min. At the end of the movie, I still had little to no insight on who these people were, what makes them tick, and why they do what they do. In other words: little to no character development that I noticed. One could argue that the story is such a wild story, and a wild story it is, and hence no character development is needed, but I take issue with that. While I was watching the film, I thought to myself that this seemed like a project that suits James Franco. Wouldn't you know! As I read up on the film after seeing this, apparently he was originally attached to direct this (he was booted after sexual misconduct allegations). Anyway, I must admit, I am scratching my head as to why this movie has garnered so much acclaim, as frankly the movie did little (ok, nothing) for me.
"Zola" was filmed in Fall of 2018, yes, over 2 1/2 years ago. It premiered at the 2020 Sundance film festival, and then of course a little thing called COVID-19 wrecked the entire industry. "Zola" finally opened in theaters last weekend. The Thursday early evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended poorly (3 people including myself). Honestly I can't see this playing in theaters much longer, for that the movie is too "off center" and frankly too poor. But don't take my word for it! Go check it out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.