Inspired by A’Ziah “Zola” King’s 148-tweet thread and a subsequent story in Rolling Stone magazine about her experience, the drama follows Detroit waitress and exotic dancer Zola, whose customer Stefani convinces her to travel to Florida for a weekend.

But the trip soon turns sinister when Zola realises they are traveling with a pimp who has other intentions.

“What I do is sex work and that’s what I’m used to and that’s what I’m confident in doing,” King said in an interview.

“But the difference in here is I was put into a situation that the conversation turned into sex trafficking.”

King’s account of the trip, whose details she later said she exaggerated, lit up social media, trending under the hashtag #TheStory. Some of those she named in the tweets have disagreed with her depiction of what happened.

“I don’t really feel anything on that specific experience anymore,” King, a producer on the film, said about watching her story unfold on the big screen.

“I’m a completely different person in a completely different space. At this point in time when I watch the movie, I can enjoy the artistic side of it.

“This is many different conversations. This is a sex work conversation, this is a race conversation. This is a feminism conversation.”

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” actress Taylour Paige plays Zola, while Riley Keough, known for “Earthquake Bird” and “Mad Max: Fury Road”, portrays Stefani.

“Zola” was first screened at last year’s Sundance Film Festival and will be released in the United States tomorrow.