Janicza Bravo Talks ‘Zola,’ Charming Villains, The “PR Of Whiteness” & More [The Playlist Podcast]

“Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, we spoke with writer, director (and actor) Janicza Bravo, who directed and co-wrote A24‘s Sundance-acclaimed indie “Zola.” Delayed by a year because of the pandemic (which the filmmaker addresses in heartbreaking detail), “Zola” finally came out earlier this summer, and now, the film arrives on DVD and Blu-ray (plus Digital) today, August 14.

READ MORE: ‘Zola’ Is The Ultimate Internet-Age Tale Of Messy Bitches Being Extra [Sundance Review]

If you don’t know “Zola,” it is an insane ride that’s nightmarish yet entertaining. Based on the viral 148-tweet Twitter thread from Detroit waitress A’Ziah “Zola” King about her wild road trip to Florida, “Zola” centers on that title character (newcomer Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. But that glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey into something much, much darker and dangerous riddled in deception, gaslighting, and manipulation.

READ MORE: Riley Keough & Audiences Have Waited Long Enough For ‘Zola’ To Hit Theaters [Interview]

Playlist contributor Sharronda Williams spoke to Bravo about the ins and outs of her complex, dark and comical movie, and the writer/director proved to be as thoughtful and insightful as her movie.

READ MORE: ‘Zola’ & The Best Films Of 2021, So Far

It’s a crazy road trip movie—equal parts comedy and tension-filled powder keg just threatening to explode at any moment— that walks a fragile line between those two tones. Bravo said she and co-writer Jeremy O. Harris wrote it in a way that intended the antagonists of the piece to be seductive and charismatic but ultimately morally bankrupt. She spoke about Colman Domingo, who plays the suave, but volatile pimp in the movie.

READ MORE: 11 Movies to Watch in June: ‘Zola,’ ‘Sparks Brothers,’ ‘Luca’ & More

“[Colman] was so damn charming, and that’s my favorite bad guy,” Bravo explained. “My favorite bad guy is someone I want to hang out with even though I’m maybe totally terrified by them. Both he and Riley are great villains, actually, because there is something very wrong with both of them, but you’re also kind of having fun with them even though there’s something really wrong with them. They’re broken, but they’re fun.”

READ MORE: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To Watch

That’s the movie in a nutshell, tonally at least. Bravo’s film is also very considered in terms of bias, blackness, white privilege, and the realities black women face. The director explained how she felt like she had to write her white character Stefanie (Riley Keough), initially a persuasive, magnetic and seemingly carefree friend—ultimately one of the villains of the piece as she explained earlier— at a disadvantage (and a vernacular one) simply to put her on the same playing field as her black protagonist Zola (Taylour Paige).

READ MORE: 52 Films Directed By Women To Watch In 2021

“No one does PR better than whiteness. Whiteness truly has the best publicity,” she began to explain. The thought around that [Riley’s disadvantaged] voice was starting her at a demerit. Then Taylor, in all of her goodness and tenderness, is somehow still at the same level. The starting line is the same, even though I do not believe that. But there is a large part of the audience—consciously or unconsciously—[that does]. As a world and a culture, we’ve decided believing women Is really hard and believing black women is especially hard. So, when you’re putting a black woman next to a white woman, and you’re asking the audience to believe her, [the black woman], their brains can’t handle that… So, part of the choice to bamboozle Reilly, to make her a minstrel, was to set her—in my mind, is many steps back—but for many audiences is when they arrive, is going to start at the same line.”

“Zola” arrives on DVD and Blu-ray™ (plus Digital) September 14 from Lionsgate. Listen to this conversation with Sharonda Williams and Janicza Bravo below.

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