Zola

Director: Janicza Bravo, Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun. Palm Springs International Film Festival 2020 Winner Directors to Watch, R (Language throughout, Graphic Nudity, A Sexual Assault, Strong Sexual Content, Violence)

Zola captures the stranger-than-fiction appeal of the viral Twitter thread that inspired it. Zola, a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani, 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. “The smart, hyper-stylish, coded and colorful direction of Janicza Bravo, who wrote the script with playwright Jeremy O. Harris, is what really makes it all swagger and singe.” —K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone