The trailer for Zola, the movie based on A’Ziah King’s experience with a former friend, is finally here. On Wednesday (March 31), a sneak peek of the Twitter-inspired story dropped, getting fans excited about the forthcoming film.
The trailer sees Zola, played by actress Taylour Paige, as she embarks on a trip with intentions to strip and make money in Florida alongside her friend Stefani, a role actress Riley Keough takes on. After finding herself in the human trafficking world, Zola witnesses a shooting, a suicide attempt and more, prompting her to declare the end of their friendship.
The trailer brought back memories from those who remember reading King’s 144-tweet thread about her experience, while showing newcomers that Black content can indeed be turned into a movie.
“I’m SO in on this,” tweeted Jemele Hill. “Zola’s Twitter thread remains a top 5 thread on this app, and it ain’t 5. That the thread turned into a movie is just amazing.”
Another individual questioned longtime Twitter users who are unaware of the viral Twitter story. “YALL WERE NOT ON TWITTER IF YOU DONT REMEMBER THE ZOLA STORY THREAD!!! I’m so excited for this shit,” the tweet read.
In a more serious post, one user issued a cautionary message about sharing valuable ideas and stories on social media platforms. “Listen, I’m happy for Zola and support this new era of digital storytelling, but please don’t tweet all of your good stories,” the person wrote. “iProducers scan Black Twitter daily for film content.”
King’s popular thread became a topic of conversation more than five years ago when she took to Twitter, enticing fans with the following words: “You wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” The story became a trending topic, capturing the attention of celebrities like Solange, Missy Elliott and Ava Duvernay. The tweet’s film adaptation was later announced.
Though the sneak peek is new to social media, Zola — which is directed by Janicza Bravo —premiered at the 2020 Sundance Festival before the world went on lockdown. Per the trailer, it is set to come out this summer via distribution from the A24 media company.
Watch the Zola trailer below.