The film is based on an infamous 148-tweet Twitter thread in which Zola meets a sex worker named Stefani at a restaurant where Zola waitresses, and the two immediately bond over pole dancing. Only a day after they exchange numbers, Stefani invites Zola on a cross-country road trip, where the goal is to make as much money as possible dancing in Florida strip clubs. Zola agrees, and suddenly she is trapped in the craziest, most unexpected trip of her life, partaking in a wild two-day trip with Stefani, her boyfriend Derrek, and Stefani's violent pimp, X.
In 2015, Detroit waitress Aziah "Zola" Wells posted a 148-tweet thread about a trip she took to Florida with a stripper named Jessica; the story, containing details of prostitution, murder and an attempted suicide, quickly went viral, garnering the recognition of people such as Missy Elliott, Solange Knowles and Ava DuVernay. About a month later, Rolling Stone's David Kushner published an article interviewing people involved in the story; while the article noted several inconsistencies in the stories, and Wells has admitted to embellishing some of the more sensational detail, most of the involved have admitted to the general gist of the story. In February 2016, it was announced James Franco would direct the film, from a screenplay by Andrew Neel and Mike Roberts. Franco, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, and Kara Baker would serve as producers on the film, under their Rabbit Bandini Productions, Killer Films and Gigi Films banners, respectively. In January 2018, it was announced the film was initially set to begin production in February 2018, but was shelved following sexual misconduct allegations against Franco. In June 2018, it was announced Janicza Bravo would direct the film, replacing Franco. In October 2018, Taylour Paige was cast in the film to play the lead role. That same month, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo and Jason Mitchell joined the cast of the film. In November 2018, Ari'el Stachel joined the cast of the film.
Filming
began on October 29, 2018. Production concluded on December 7, 2018.
Zola received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a 89% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 53 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.41/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Zola captures the stranger-than-fiction appeal of the viral Twitter thread that inspired it -- and announces director/co-writer Janicza Bravo as a filmmaker to watch." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 72 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
