Zola(2020)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
X sends Zola and Derrek home while Stefani stays with X (presumably to continue prostituting). Zola is relieved to be going home, and is no longer friends with Stefani. She recounts the experiences depicted in the film on Twitter to much acclaim.

Long Ending:
Based on a true story told over social media (Twitter), Zola (Taylour Page) meets a young woman named Stefani (Riley Keough) while working as a waitress. The two strike up a quick friendship and begin stripping together at clubs. Stefani invites Zola to accompany her to Florida to dance at the clubs there during Spring Break, claiming that they can make a huge amount of money. Enticed by the promised windfall and wanting to further her friendship, Zola agrees. Zola is surprised when Stefani picks her up alongside Stefani’s boyfriend/baby daddy Derrek (Nicholas Braun) and a mysterious man calling himself “X” (Coleman Domingo).

When they arrive, Zola begins getting a bad feeling. X checks them into a dumpy motel and forces Derrek to stay behind as he drives the women to a strip club. The club is dingy and sparsely attended – a far cry from the promised crowds and wealth. Stefani keeps trying to get Zola to give private lap dances to the patrons, but Zola states that she is only interested in dancing. X picks them up after their shift and drives them to a fancy hotel. There, Stefani reveals that X is her pimp and that he posted an ad to prostitute them. Zola flatly refuses to prostitute herself, but she does agree to help out Stefani after Stefani tearfully states that she needs the money for her daughter. Zola posts a much better ad for Stefani charging far higher rates than those in X’s ads. Zola’s ad is successful and Stefani makes thousands of dollars in one night. X is thrilled at the results, even as he grows concerned about Zola’s disobedience and intelligence.

The next day, X checks the four of them into a fancy hotel and meets up with his wife there. Stefani manages to briefly pacify Derrek after he freaks out about her activities the night before. However, when Derrek realizes that Stefani intends to go out as a prostitute again that night, he tells Zola that Stefani has a history of tricking women into working for X and puts a post on social media outing Stefani as a prostitute. An enraged X threatens Derrek with a gun to make him remove the post. He then gives Zola another gun, assigning her as Stefani’s enforcer for the night, and makes Derrek and Zola accompany Stefani to her prostitution calls. Zola tells Stefani they are no longer friends (at which point the narration briefly changes to Stefani’s point of view where she claims that Zola was the real prostitute and is misrepresenting Stefani in the story out of jealousy that men were more attracted to her than Zola).

Later that night, Stefani is abducted by the men inside a hotel room while Zola flees. Zola calls X, who arrives with his firearm. Zola, X, and Derrek make their way to the hotel room but they are also ambushed when the men inside who have shotguns. X and Zola eventually manage to execute a plan where X pulls the gun he gave Zola out of her purse to get the drop on the other men. They recover Stefani and begin to leave, when one of the men antagonizes X. The angry pimp shoots the man and the four are forced to flee from the hotel.

They arrive at X’s house (to learn that he is in fact extremely wealthy). Zola asks to go home and, to her relief, X agrees. X then says that Derrek needs to go home with her. aAn outraged Derrek pleads with Stefani to go home with him, but she refuses. To everyone’s surprise, Derrek then jumps off of X’s balcony in an effort to kill himself. Since they are only one story up, Derrek is only severely wounded. An angry X drives Zola and Derrek to the train station. On the way, Stefani tries to patch things up with Zola, but Zola ignores her. Arriving home, Zola posts her story on Twitter, to great acclaim.