zola is often laugh out loud funny, mixing the hilarity and hedonism of the wolf of wall street with the edgy anarchy of spring breakers, but it also functions as a frank expose of the sex industry. writer—directorjanicza bravo weaves in disturbing details about the commodification of women, showing how stefani's pimp exploits and threatens the girls with a chillingly casual air. the director also makes a statement by the way she shoots the sex scenes. it's a far cry from your typical hollywood hooker story. it's easy to compare this to thej—lo starred hustlers which was based on an article about strippers and was also helmed by a woman. but i think zola is an even better film than hustlers, partly because it's based directly on the words of its brazen heroine and partly because it so smartly paced, scripted and performed. rising star taylour paige follows up her turn in ma rainey�*s black bottom with another sparky performance. and american honey's star riley keough,