Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You, in limited release on July 6th, is easily one of the best films of the year. Somehow effectively combining the nightmarish clerical surrealism of Franz Kafka, the impish punk rock weirdness of Alex Cox, the colorful naughtiness of John Waters, the dark social satire of Jonathan Swift, and the righteous social indignation of Spike Lee, Sorry To Bother You emerges as one of the most original, striking, enervating, wickedly funny, singular, and perhaps most important feature films of the last 15 years.
It is the near future (as far as I can tell), and everything is just crappier. The world is overrun by a corporation called WorryFree which offers a worry-free life by taking away all your possessions and placing you in “company housing,” which is essentially a prison where they keep wage slaves. Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius “Cash” Green, an impoverished, money-obsessed African-American Oaklandite who lives in his uncle's garage, and whose dreams of providing a better life for himself and his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) border on the pathological. Detroit, meanwhile, (barely) makes ends meet by selling art, and keeps her soul alive by engaging in bizarre political performances and Banksy-style graffiti. They have a few conversations early in the film, wondering if the pursuit of wealth is really all life has come to. In a world where wealth is commonly confused for virtue, this is an important conversation to have.
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It is the near future (as far as I can tell), and everything is just crappier. The world is overrun by a corporation called WorryFree which offers a worry-free life by taking away all your possessions and placing you in “company housing,” which is essentially a prison where they keep wage slaves. Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius “Cash” Green, an impoverished, money-obsessed African-American Oaklandite who lives in his uncle's garage, and whose dreams of providing a better life for himself and his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) border on the pathological. Detroit, meanwhile, (barely) makes ends meet by selling art, and keeps her soul alive by engaging in bizarre political performances and Banksy-style graffiti. They have a few conversations early in the film, wondering if the pursuit of wealth is really all life has come to. In a world where wealth is commonly confused for virtue, this is an important conversation to have.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...