Sorry to Bother You (2018), written and directed by Boots Riley, is another one of those Black/black comedies of manners that seem to be all the rage now. OK, there's really only one other example, Get Out. But I think that one counts a lot.
It starts with Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius Green in bed with his girlfriend Tessa Thompson as Detroit. Then the garage door opens because he is living in his uncle’s garage. He needs money badly. A friend helps him get a job as a telemarketer, which looks hideous. But Danny Glover explains that he just has to use his “white voice” and people will buy from him. And it works. He climbs the corporate ladder to become a Power Caller, selling “life contracts” - in this version of America, you can sign up to have all your food, housing, and clothes supplied in exchange for a lifetime labor contract - which is different from slavery in some way.
Meanwhile, Detroit is rocking some amazing earrings and getting ready for her gallery show, and Steven Yuen is unionizing the telemarketers. Will Cash make it to the show? Will he cross the picket lines? Of course, but that’s not what’s weird. What’s weird is what the life contract people, lead by celebrity entrepreneur Armie Hammer, are really up to.
That’s the outline of the setup, more or less. It leaves out a lot of the absurdity - like when Stanfield telemarketing someone, his desk crashes into their home. It leaves out the Left Eye rebels, fighting the system. It leaves out the incredible cuteness of Detroit and her awesome earrings. Mostly, I just can’t describe the density of this movie, the rich, realistic picture of a crazy world, pretty much like the one we’re living in. I don’t think it’s as funny as Get Out, and maybe not so focussed, but it’s beautiful.
And if you don’t think it’s a horror film, just wait until the end.
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