Seven years after Sorry to Bother You became the most audacious directorial debut in recent memory, Boots Riley is finally back. I Love Boosters hits Netflix on May 22, and if the cast list is any indication, the streaming giant is betting big on Riley's unique vision.
Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore star in what's described as a story about retail theft - though knowing Riley, that's probably just the starting point for something far more subversive.
The gap between films is worth noting. Sorry to Bother You dropped in 2018 to critical acclaim and cult status, a surrealist comedy about telemarketing, labor exploitation, and literal horse-people that somehow worked despite being absolutely bananas. Then... silence.
Well, not complete silence. Riley created the Amazon series I'm a Virgo, which got unceremoniously canceled after one season despite being one of the most creative shows in recent memory. Apparently, a show about a 13-foot-tall Black teenager navigating capitalism was too weird even for the platform that gave us Upload.
But theatrical has always been Riley's sweet spot, and Netflix seems to understand what they've got. Giving a filmmaker this idiosyncratic this much firepower - look at that cast again - suggests they're positioning I Love Boosters as a potential awards player, not just algorithm fodder.
The retail theft angle is particularly timely, given the ongoing discourse about organized retail crime, corporate profit margins, and what actually constitutes theft in late-stage capitalism. Riley, a longtime activist and former Coup frontman, doesn't do apolitical entertainment. Expect the film to have something pointed to say about who we criminalize and why.
