The only people who may be psychologically prepared for the turns that I Love Boosters will take, the new film from director Boots Riley, are those that saw his first film, Sorry to Bother You. Another truly original film, from a truly original man, these two films share such similar DNA that it does make one worry if seeing the same magic trick a second time makes it lose its luster a little bit.

In I Love Boosters we follow Corvette (Keke Palmer), a charismatic and clever shop lifter trying to make a living in the Bay Area, a famously affordable area to find oneself. It opens with her seemingly seducing a handsome man up to her apartment, but instead of a bedroom, the unit is filled with racks of clothes that she has lifted off of big box stores and is trying to resell to fashionable young men and women. Spending her rent to house her stolen merchandise while she is hunkering down at an abandoned restaurant with her co conspirators Mariah (Taylour Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie) she’s attempting to make her way in a world that is actively trying to push her out.

The thing this movie achieves best is in it’s biting humor. Sharp, witty dialogue centering on class struggle and oppresive systems are as witty as any part of Riley’s other works (Sorry to Bother You and I Am a Virgo). A hilarious performance by Demi Moore as an evil fashion icon, and Will Poulter as an oblivious department store manager are reminiscent of the work that Patton Oswalt and David Cross brought to Riley’s previous feature. It has all the same trappings in terms of plot twists that his last film had as well, up to and including a reveal that involves stop motion monsters replacing human actors.

That’s the meanest thing I can say about I Love Boosters. In a world where Sorry to Bother You exists many of the swings that should feel fresh and unique wind up feeling at least slightly played out. The film is zeroing in on the same pro labor talking points that were made, and while potentially more important than they were back in 2018 it doesn’t feel like new ground is being offered in terms of solutions, or even the problems we face. Even if they have begun to be more existentially threatening than they were eight years ago. The one thing that does feel new is a focus on a cast of incredibly talented female actors, and a more distinct industry being lampooned. If you see Boots’ wardrobe, one can imagine that fashion is something he has genuine passion for, and the talking points being made in I Love Boosters feel genuine and lived in in a way that working at a call center felt more removed from. From the department store that Keke and gang wind up working at, to a character showing up having worked in a sweatshop factory, to the Demi Moore fashionista character, the setting does feel more specific, even if the plot points follow a similar trajectory.

I Love Boosters works best as a vehicle to deliver jokes, and it is after all a comedy. Genuinely funny, supremely smart, and built off the back of Keke Palmer, of one of the most charismatic voices in Hollywood, I Love Boosters is without a doubt worth your time, even if it feels like a less exciting version of what came before.

3/5