From writer/director Boots Riley, in his bold feature film debut, Sorry to Bother You is dystopian cultural satire. It starts with an everyman down on his luck who finds middling success by using his "white voice" in telemarketing and spins that joke into a biting, dark, twisted tale of revolution. Yeah, this film goes off the rails delightfully quickly.
Riley doesn't hold to convention, flipping the bird to what indie films are supposed to be. He plays fast and loose with his story, focusing more on how his characters feel than in how their world would actually work. He employs a jarring style to lurch us through his tale, similar to how we often feel jerked through life.
It truly is remarkable.
But what is truly shocking about the film is just how dark it gets. Riley might play with tone but he takes his critique of capitalism dead seriously. While the film sometimes feels like it is loosing its grip on reality, it remains consistently sound. His point is this is actually how bad it is. While we may be dropping our jaws at the audacity, he remains committed to the idea that capitalism is this terrible. And it's hard to argue with him.
So what first feels like a fresh, original comedy to enjoy it quickly descends into a depressingly accurate take down of our modern reality. Right up to the end he doesn't compromise.
And his brilliantly ironic title hits on so many levels.
Sorry to Bother You
Starring: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Patton Oswalt, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Rosario Dawson, David Cross
Writer/Director: Boots Riley
No comments:
Post a Comment