Zola (2021)

Zola as an experience was very consecutive for me. I saw both the trailer and poster two days before it released, and being anxious to throw myself into a theater, I was more than on board. I sat down for the hour and a half, came home, and at first gave a resounding: As days went on, the film continued to flash past my mind, each time leaving me with a different piece of a larger viewpoint. It took me a few days to fully sit with the many intersections being touched both on and off-screen and the many things that are said in this short runtime. Now, being on the other side of this deliberation, I not only find the movie to be a super fun time, but also a glimpse to the possible future of modern black parables. When I say modern black parables, I’m referring to the recent uproar of films that aim to teach about the black experience: Loving, Queen and Slim, and If Beale Street Could Talk, to name a few. What makes these different from the current black horror craze is that although they both want to address struggles of blackhood, the modern black parable is shooting for a more stripped-down, realistic story. Most black people wouldn’t agree that they’ve been kidnapped to cosplay as a slave ala Antebellum, but they have experienced racial tensions similar to what we saw in The Hate You Give