Sorry To Bother You

 2018, d. Boots Riley - Netflix

I have to feel bad about not seeing Sorry To Bother You in the theatres.  It wasn't for lack of desire.  I could tell from the trailers it was "my kind of film", but I truly had no idea how much of a "my kind of film" it truly was.   It just kind of passed me by and I never made the time for it.  Even when it was on one of the cable channels I kept putting it off, and it's been on "my list" on Netflix for months, unloved. By the time I actually put it on, I had kind of forgotten what the film was actually about, only to dial into its swirling surrealism instantly.

Cribbing directly from Wikipedia --  Boots Riley describes the film as "an absurdist dark comedy with aspects of magical realism and science fiction inspired by the world of telemarketing" - which sums it up quite nicely, but not totally.  

We first meet Cassius "Cash" Green (Lakeith Stanfield) trying way too hard to get a telemarketing job.  To his interview he's brought with him a trophy and a placard supposedly representing triumphs from previous employment, only for the hiring manager to call out his bullshit references and accomplishments, but then confide that they will literally hire anyone.  Dashing expectations that this would be a cringe comedy about awkward telemarketing conversations, Riley's imaginative storytelling style imbues the film with a lively comedic energy, as Cash and his work desk slide in-person into his he caller's household interrupting everything from dinner to sex, only to be hung up on in short order.

If you have ever thought about telemarketing work, I'm sure it just sends a shiver down your spine.  You know there's a level of desperation when entering that field of employment, one that's about as high status as working at McDonalds.  There's a relatively easy and dispiriting movie to be had in the grind and misadventures of telemarketing, but that's not what this film or Riley is at all interested in doing. 

Instead there's a whole race and class context, where, in order to succeed, Cash starts employing his "white voice" (provided by an extra nasally David Cross).  The "white voice" isn't necessarily directly about code switching so much as employing an attitude that the listener is not only receptive to but envious of.  Cash starts succeeding very far, the newest golden boy in the organization.

In the background there's a thread of the employees unionizing, as well as a few cues about an organization providing housing and food for life, in exchange for a lifetime supply of cheap labor, promising to take all the complications out of life for those feeling run down and downtrodden.  These two threads start to collide into Cash's reality and he wants nothing more than to look past it, like his most successful colleagues but invariably he has a conscience.

Still he has to learn about a pretty gnarly conspiracy (you will NEVER see that twist coming) and mingle with the worst of the worst (it would appear that Armie Hammer's character in this film is pretty much Armie Hammer in real life) before his morals supplant his greed.

I love an absurd satire of capitalism, especially one that goes to such extremes as this does and yet isn't actively working to alienate its audience with its weirdness.  I think of How To Get Ahead In Advertising as a similar model, only with more of a Terry Gilliam-at-his-peak playfulness.  It's as savvy as the best Black Mirror episodes, but plays in a much more heightened reality.  It has such a clean logic that it's a film very easy to follow along with, and the parallels to reality are easily equatable despite all the crazy twists.  It's extremely funny, constantly surprising, and visually delightful.  Riley's debut has instantly entered him into my "must watch" directors list, and the only disappointment is in finding that Riley has no other films to catch up on or look out for. 

Stanfield, was on the cusp of stardom when this came out, and it launched him over the wall, which we've seen bear fruit over the past few years with his many various roles, but I can't help but feel this is still his brightest performance so far.  It will be interesting to see him return to Atlanta whenever Donald Glover decides to pick it up again.  The film is also stacked with stellar performances from Tessa Thompson (her art gallery scene is a mindbender), Jermaine Fowler (still just waiting for him to explode), Steven Yeun (an Oscar nod this year!), Terry Crews, Danny Glover and Omari Hardwick with voice work from Patton Oswalt, Forrest Whitaker and Rosario Dawson.

An instant favourite.