In 2015, a little-known Twitter user named Aziah King posted the first words of a 148-tweet saga: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this here bitch fell out???????? Please select the topics you're interested in: Would you like to turn on POPSUGAR desktop notifications to get breaking news ASAP? The main source for the movie version of Zola is "Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted," a Rolling Stone article from November 2015 by journalist David Kushner. Great, Click the ‘Allow’ Button Above The best part of the film is simply watching the cast translate the tweets’ stage direction. So here's the synopsis of Zola's original story: In 2015, Zola, a stripper (whose real name is Aziah Wells), blew up Twitter with a thread she posted about a wild and dangerous trip she took to Florida with strangers. Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. The true story behind Zola is the sort of thing that even Hollywood couldn't make up. Films struggled for years to depict text messages on screens or pop-up graphics. , How the Saga of Zola Went From a Viral Twitter Thread to a Buzzy New Movie, Welcome to 2020, Mr. Banks! That said, it’s a rare overextension of a competent Extremely Online aesthetic. According to Wells's account, what started out as a dancing gig quickly morphed into both of them being prostituted by Z. @_zolarmoon @taylourpaige @rileykeough pic.twitter.com/GE4quzZp6n. A viral thread of tweets from 2015 is a testament to that, where a woman named Zola told the story of how she was essentially trafficked by a sex worker named Jessica from Detroit to Florida for a wild two-day weekend filled with sex, drugs, and murder. (A few years after the Twitter thread, stereotypical sex trafficking narratives helped pass a real law that drove many sex workers offline, a depressing fact noted by journalist Melissa Gira Grant.) by Perri Konecky It’s a fast-moving caper about a woman who’s dragged into an objectively frightening situation with unpredictable and untrustworthy companions, but it’s also constantly exasperated by their idiocy. Sometimes social media finds a fab viral post that everyone becomes obsessed with – and that’s what happened with the Zola Twitter thread. Back in 2015 Aziah “Zola” Wells’ posted an incredible 148-tweet thread which had thousands of people around the world hooked. You don’t need to read complicated subtext into Zola. The story went viral, and is claimed to be “based on a true story”. The upcoming film was written and directed by Janicza Bravo as well as Jeremy O. Harris. It’s gorgeous and engaging. A story written and published by Aziah King (@_zolarmoon) in 150 tweets, on October 27, 2015. Keough and Paige develop a quasi-romantic love-hate relationship, Domingo shifts between accents as he slips between pragmatism and rage, and Braun plays Derrek like an alternate-universe version of Cousin Greg with no money or connections — which is to say, a complete mess. {{#media.focal_point}}. Jessica claims that only Zola went on calls the rest of the night and was the subject of what transpired next. 15 hours ago, by Maggie Ryan murder? 14 hours ago, by Brea Cubit She meets a fellow dancer named Stefani (Riley Keough) in a chance encounter, and Stefani invites Zola on a trip to Florida with her doormat boyfriend Derrek (Succession’s Nicholas Braun) and imposing “roommate” X (Colman Domingo). But Stefani isn’t telling the whole story, and if you’ve read the Zola tweet thread, you’ll know roughly — but not exactly — where this is going. This review comes from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Florida? Although Wells admitted to embellishing some details to get more attention, she insisted to Rolling Stone that she did it for a good reason: "I made people who probably wouldn't want to hear a sex trafficking story want to be a part of it, because it was entertaining.". During the thread someone gets murdered and Jarrett, Jessica’s boyfriend, jumps out of a four-story window. That's the one thing everyone involved with the story seemed to hope would come of its high profile: raised awareness of trafficking. It went on to tell the tale of Zola’s road trip to Florida with Jessica, who is alleged to be a stripper. Zola and Stefani are clearly at risk and sometimes powerless. It’s kind of long but full of suspense”. Wells's thread tells a much more dramatic story: while she tried to talk Jarrett out of trying to "save" Jessica, Jessica went on what she thought was a special-request call but turned out to be a rival pimp trying to "buy" her from Z, leading to a violent confrontation.