Zola
Khoi Vinh

Review by Khoi Vinh Patron

Zola 2020

★★★★

Watched 30 Jun 2024

I seem to remember the hype leading up to the release of this movie was pretty heated, and then it kind of petered out without leaving much of an echo in the zeitgeist. That initial reaction makes sense but the diminution confounds me. Director Janicza Bravo loads this movie with crackling, inventive energy that has all the hallmarks of a singular auteuristic voice. Her biggest achievement is creating the space for three performances that pop off the screen: Taylour Paige is electric as the titular protagonist who unexpectedly finds herself in a dangerously f’d up situation; Riley Keough is hilarious and tragic as the dimwitted new friend that ropes and/or manipulates her into the trouble; and Colman Domingo is a powerhouse as a volatile, explosive wild card who cranks up all the dials. (A bonus, pitch perfect bit part from Nicholas Braun demonstrates how unexpectedly adaptable his “Cousin Greg” persona can be.) Bravo is Scorsese-like in her talent for fleet-footed action and kinetic camerawork that seem to emanate directly from her characters’ states of mind. She’s also got tremendous taste; she’s practically unerring in her application of a digressive, twisty, borderline gimmicky directorial style that still serves the highly subjective first-person narration perfectly while never tripping over into self-indulgence. This is the kind of movie that makes me wonder what else I have missed from the director and gets me excited for what she might do in the future.

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