I Love Boosters slams into theaters on May 22.
By Elazar Abrahams
Boots Riley, I tip my hat to you. Not because I liked your new movie I Love Boosters. In fact, I very much didn’t. But wow, it’s so audacious, off-the-rails, and unneutered that respect has been earned. Movies with a true point of view and artistic vision are becoming rarer and rarer at the studio scale. So even though this wasn’t for me, well done.
This is Riley’s first feature since Sorry to Bother You, and like that film, I Love Boosters is proudly bonkers. It’s messy, political, and uninterested in behaving normally. It wears its politics and values on its sleeve, it swings for the fences, and it demands that you either vibe with its very specific tone or politely excuse yourself.
The setup follows a crew of fashion “boosters,” meaning shoplifters and resellers, who decide to take aim at a ruthless fashion-world figure after she steals their designs. It’s a very anti-capitalist, pro-worker satire that Riley is known for, and the cast is stacked: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, Demi Moore, and more.
The first half is the weaker half. There are cute visual gags and stylistic flourishes that are just too oddball to delight. The frequency of strangeness is a wall to connecting emotionally with any of what’s happening on screen, and the laughs are weak.
In a second act twist (followed by multiple third act twists), the world of the movie expands, with sci-fi logic and Riley making even more audacious moves. I wouldn’t spoil the specifics regardless, but even if I did, you wouldn’t believe me. These are the sections of the movie that, despite still not being very pleasant, at least are energetic and fun to watch.
The chaos only works so much though, because the film is still so disjointed and frantic. Again, this hampers any connection to the characters.
There are so many characters with so many dumb costumes and sets and tones that I Love Boosters feels more like a splattered collage than a story viewers can lose themselves in. For those on the exact wavelength of the movie, this is going to be one of the best things they watch all year. Everyone else will think there’s just way too much camp.
To be clear, I respect and agree with the film’s pro-worker, pro-union, anti-exploitation posturing. The issue isn’t what Riley believes, but that his movies are throwing so much at the wall that it doesn’t always build towards something satisfying. Take, for instance, LaKeith Stanfield’s character in this, who is so uncomfortable and strange, and adds really nothing to the story.
So yeah, kudos for the vision, props for getting to make the movie you wanted. Not my cup of tea.
I give I Love Boosters a C.
