Sorry To Bother You

Sorry to Bother You borders somewhere on the boundaries of ludicrous and brilliant; a similar veil of recent productions Get Out and Mother! comes to mind , however, with a dramatically lower production value masked by cardboard cut outs and famous cameos but ohh does it have its moments.

It feels like an independent film, which it is, acquired this past year at the Sundance film festival by Annapurna Pictures, with soft focus, obvious ADR work, un-synced audio and grade school transitions it at times, especially in the first half hour or so had me wondering “why the hell am I even watching this,” that is until the insane plot of this film slowly reveals it to be something more in line of The Twilight Zone than just a mundane exploration of our capitalistic culture.

So what is Sorry to Bother You then? A critique of society no doubt, as this story takes place in the not so distant future in the city of Oakland, where income inequality, unionism, social-economic instability are the key factors, so much so that people in this society are signing away their lives to simply live in a communal manufacturing hub (Worry Free Living) in exchange for a bed to sleep in and 3 meals a day. Basically a retirement community where anyone can join and most do as a last resort.

Cassius, the lead, is the working poor 20-something just trying to make it by in this strangely familiar world. He ends up taking a job as a telemarketer where he discovers his ‘white’ voice and suddenly shoots up the sales ranks, to an exclusive club which caters to war criminals, side-stepping businessman and it’s most profitable sell, Worry Free Living, or better put voluntary slavery.

But in a world where people are decorating their hair with cola-cans, the most popular show revolves around people getting their face smashed in for a quick laugh, such a world where everything else seems to simply vanish with the signing of a paper seems all to nice and comfortable.

The satirical critiques on society are numerous and thought provoking; capitalism has a way of forming its own values within society without us realizing it and that’s kind of the point of the film.

Director Boots Riley seems intent on pushing that ridiculousness into the realm of if it’s popular or profitable then why not? In a world that lacks moral-fiber and resembles more of Mike Judge’s Idiocracy then anything goes right?

Even if your genetically modified plan to strengthen the work force…ahh… I mean scandal is plastered all over the evening news does anyone really care? Would the people believe it or worse yet, would they rally behind it?

A Twilight zone film that feels all too familiar in the world we live in today.