REVIEW: “I Love Boosters” Closes Out 50th ATLFF With a Bang
The festival ended with a screening of one of the year's most anticipated features
Boots Riley is back and he’s taking no prisoners.
The multi-hyphenate artist appeared for the closing night of the 50th Atlanta Film Festival at the historic Plaza Theatre to present his latest film, I Love Boosters.
In typical Boots Riley fashion – the same auteur that brought us 2018’s critically acclaimed Sorry to Bother You and the 2023 limited series I’m a Virgo – I Love Boosters truly must be seen to be believed, and especially seen with an audience, as the laughter and engagement in the LeFont auditorium reached an estimable high throughout.
The film follows three professional shoplifters, or boosters, as they embark on a mission to target the stores owned by a problematic fashion mogul. The lovable boosters are played by Keke Palmer, Taylour Paige and Naomi Ackie, while they face off against the not-so-lovable mogul, played by Demi Moore in a wonderfully over-the-top performance. The surrounding ensemble includes hilarious and unexpected performances from the likes of LaKeith Stanfield, Don Cheadle, Will Poulter, Poppy Liu and many, many more familiar faces (that I dare not spoil).
And despite taking place in Oakland, the place Riley calls home (and a heightened, imaginative version of Oakland, at that), the majority of I Love Boosters was filmed in the Atlanta area in late 2024, with many people who worked on the film in attendance.
Most notably, the film’s production designer, Christopher Glass, who briefly touched upon some of the surrealist elements they added to their set designs during the Q&A, including deliberately transforming Christie Smith’s (Demi Moore) office building into a set 17 degrees off its axis. This plays to hilarious effect throughout the film, as well as becomes weaponized into pointed commentary when Corvette (Keke Palmer) attempts to run upward through the office, only to fall flat on her face.
These inspired, hand-made components, replete with masterful costume designs by Shirley Kurata, not only flesh out the film’s absurdist world, but double as the very fuel that lights the film’s fire – visual aids in Riley’s larger exigencies against late-stage capitalism and corporate deindividuation. The film’s understanding of class differences and how it is reflected through visual storytelling remains its strongest attribute.
Like Sorry to Bother You, the mileage of Riley’s thematic musings, as well as his constant sight gags and comedic provocations – the cinematic equivalent of an air-horn being unceremoniously blown in your face – will vary from viewer to viewer.
Unlike Sorry to Bother You, I remain skeptical that I Love Boosters totally coheres, especially when a key element is introduced about midway through the runtime (once again, no spoilers), which, unlike the hilarious twist in his previous film, feels more stultifying to the grander narrative and thematic tracks that have been laid out, as opposed to deepening them.
However, the film ultimately remains successful in not only its panache and charm, but in locating the correct real-world targets, and providing a feasible road map for how to topple, or at least rankle, those modern day oppressors (who are often dressed in haute couture), as well as express that these systemic issues will not resolve themselves overnight.
“I wanted to make something that not only got people excited about organizing [strikes], but show that this could potentially be a power-play, that the working-class could realistically form this sort of movement,” Riley said in a closing remark during the film’s Q&A. “But there’s a lot more work to be done beyond this movie.”
“I Love Boosters” will be released nationwide in theaters by NEON on May 22.
Article by William Glen Jones. Photos by Mikey Smith. Please credit @mts2.photo or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.
