*If you happen to thought Boots Riley was going to tone it down after his 2018 cult basic Sorry to Hassle You, suppose once more. The filmmaker returned with a vengeance on Thursday night time, opening the 2026 SXSW Movie Competition along with his sophomore characteristic, I Love Boosters. Judging by the electrical response on the Paramount Theater, Riley has delivered one other wild, surreal, and unapologetically radical satire that cements his place as cinema’s most creative leftist troublemaker.
Described as an “anti-Satan Wears Prada” with socialist stoner vibes, I Love Boosters follows a crew {of professional} shoplifters often called the Velvet Gang. Main the cost is Corvette (a dynamite Keke Palmer), an aspiring designer sleeping on a pal’s sofa in a transformed fast-food joint—full with a light-up menu subsequent to her kitchen bathe. Alongside her finest mates Sade (Naomi Ackie) and Mariah (Taylour Paige), the gang funds their existence by “boosting” high-end style from Metro Designs, the luxurious empire run by the ruthless “girlboss” designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore, channeling icy brilliance with a blonde bob).
Their mission? Steal from the wealthy and promote to the working class out of van trunks, a follow they proudly model as “Vogue. Ahead. Philanthropy.”
From Grounded Heists to Teleporting Chaos
True to Riley’s type, the movie begins grounded in Oakland grit earlier than spiraling into wonderful absurdity. The plot accelerates when Jianhu (Poppy Liu), a teleporting manufacturing facility employee from China, joins the crew. Armed with a “metallic doughnut” gadget that may “deconstruct” or “situationally speed up” actuality, she highlights the worldwide exploitation behind Christie’s style line—particularly the lung illness affecting staff sandblasting denims.
What follows is a riot of month-to-month monochromatic heists, “white woman” distraction ways, and employee solidarity actions. The solid is a who’s who of character actors firing on all cylinders: Will Poulter performs a retailer supervisor who makes use of techno music to drown out his exploitative rants, Eiza González is a “vaping weed brainiac” retail employee, and Eric André has a cameo involving a monster truck that defies description.
The Soul-Sucking Scene and Different Visible Madness
The SXSW Q&A was virtually as chaotic because the movie. LaKeith Stanfield, reuniting with Riley after Sorry to Hassle You, stole the present by dropping his mic and saying, “I’m simply sucking souls out of vaginas!” earlier than pretending to stroll offstage. His character—a demonic determine in a body-horror, levitating cunnilingus scene—is simply one of many movie’s many shockingly surreal highlights.
Riley fills the display screen along with his signature visible metaphors: a large ball of receipts and eviction notices threatens to crush our heroes; stop-motion skinless company goons give chase; and Don Cheadle seems in prosthetics as a pyramid-scheme guru internet hosting self-help seminars in low cost furnishings shops. By way of all of it, information chyrons that includes Jason Ritter flash conspiracy-tinged headlines, protecting the viewers in a state of delighted confusion.
Extra Than Only a Good Time
Regardless of the cartoonish violence and hyperpop aesthetics, Riley’s message is lethal critical. Talking to the viewers in Austin, he emphasised that whereas the movie is “foolish,” it’s additionally “crucial proper now” as a name to struggle fascism and financial injustice. Keke Palmer, who additionally served as an government producer, famous that the movie’s layers reveal themselves upon re-watching. “Whether or not you’re Latin, Black or Asian American, we’re coping with some loopy struggles. We have to cease preventing our personal unbiased fights,” she mentioned, referencing the movie’s themes of solidarity.
A Bay Space Homecoming and Theatrical Launch
Distributed by Neon, I Love Boosters is about for a large launch on Could 22, 2026. Riley has introduced plans for a university tour to interact youthful audiences, in addition to a particular Bay Space homecoming screening at Oakland’s historic Grand Lake Theatre.
If you happen to’re craving for a movie that mixes the heist enjoyable of Set It Off with the reality-bending ambition of Every part In every single place All at As soon as, mark your calendars. I Love Boosters is peak Riley: messy, formidable, joyful, and a mandatory molotov cocktail of hope in robust instances.
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