The savagely funny social satire Sorry to Bother You rips both the excesses of 21st century capitalism and the popular response to those excesses – apathetic submissiveness. This may be the most original American film of the year.
Sorry to Bother You is set with specificity in Oakland, but the story is about the greater corporate-dominated culture. A sinister corporation named Worry Free flourishes by enlisting consumers to “lifetime contracts” for their employment and household needs; Worry Free clients/employees are provided for life with meals, housing (in barracks crammed with bunk beds) and clothing (hospital scrubs) in return for menial factory labor. The Worry Free system, of course, is slavery. Almost nobody cares about that – this is a vapid culture where the most popular TV game show is I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me, where each week’s contestant is beaten and humiliated for mass entertainment. Only the insurgent group Left Eye resists, with graffiti and guerilla actions.
Cassius (Lakeith Stanfield), a young man without prospects, is living in his uncle’s Oakland garage with his avant-garde artist girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson). Cassius is overjoyed to finally score a telemarketing job, even though his new boss explains that every applicant is hired. Cassius’ telemarketing career is futile until he acts on a tip from an older colleague (Danny Glover) to “use your white voice”. Suddenly, Cassius vaults to the top of the telemarketing world, and is promoted to make big money pitching Worry Free’s slave labor force to global manufacturers. This raises the question, when does “success” become “selling out”?
Complicating matters for Cassius, his former telemarketing buddies and Detroit take on The Man by organizing a union. Cassius becomes both the butt of a viral YouTube video and estranged from his support system just as Worry Free’s founder (Armie Hammer) offers Cassius an even bigger opportunity. Finding slavery not profitable enough, Worry Free is about to launch what is horrifically called “the future of labor” – a sci-fi solution to create a work force “more durable and compliant” than human slaves. If Cassius decides to expose the atrocities, how will the public react?
Sorry to Bother You is the first feature as writer-director for Bay Area artist and rapper Boots Riley, It’s an impressive film debut for Riley, who has proven himself to be a first-rate social observer and satirist.
Lakeith Stanfield is excellent as the stoic, hunched Cassius, and so is the rest of the cast (Thompson, Glover, Steven Yuen, Omari Harwick, Germaine Fowler). Armie Hammer’s performance as the unapologetically monstrous entrepreneur is delicious. Kate Berlani sparkles as the new telemarketing “team leader”, who, having drank the Kool-Aid, spouts corporate management babble.
Sorry to Bother You is a riot – in the comedic sense and also as sociopolitical disruption. Nary a joke goes awry, from Detroit’s self-crafted earrings to the security code in the corporate elevator. And Riley plays a final joke for us (and on us) in the closing credits.