If I were to be completely honest, I don’t even know how I’m going to start off with this review. How do you even introduce something as absurd as Sorry to Bother You? It should be considered a crime as to how this film flew under the radar during its release back in 2018 when it is clearly so much better than half of what came out during those times and a million times more relevant and worth watching than some of the Oscar nominees (and winners). Let me tell you exactly why this movie is worth bothering you for.
Right from the get-go we see the main principles of the story showcased through a visual medium with little to no dialogue. The lines said by the characters are merely for their own introduction and it doesn’t serve as an expository set up to the world the film inhabits. Instead, we see the characters go through the rules of the society they live in through the classic use of “show don’t tell.”
We meet the protagonist, Cassius Green, played effortlessly by Lakeith Stanfield go through the process of getting a job in a telemarketing company. The scenes that follow include his landlord/ uncle played by the always amazing Terry Crews and Cash’s girlfriend, Detroit, played by the all so talented Tessa Thompson. Through these first few scenes, we now get a setup of who Cash is as a character and what does this mean to the society he lives in.
We know that Cassius is a struggling man who’s just barely trying to get ends meet, lives in his uncle’s garage, can barely pay rent, and has a partner who is an artist. All this engulfed in a society that is racist and a tad bit discriminatory. It’s easy for the film to show a bunch of white people look down on Cassius but instead it gives more visual metaphors than literal avenues for this. One example is a simple visual cut at the start when Cash goes to his new job for the first time. He sees a grand elevator that is gold colored with two well-dressed individuals waiting in front of it as he heads into a bland hole in the wall leading to stairs to get to his office floor. The divide within the social classes and community is easily presented with no words being said and no explanation in sight.
There is cleverness to almost every story element being presented. The characters of the story work in a telemarketing company that always emphasizes its people to “Stick To The Script” just as how companies nowadays try to control their workers as much as possible giving little to no importance to their own values and principles. Corporations treat its labor force like machines and animals for their own gain which will become very important in the third act of the story.
The whole concept of using a “white voice” to become successful telemarketers is as subtle as the film can get with the message it’s trying to say. The company Cassius works in holds people called “power callers” up on a pedestal. Apparently, they’re the ones who use the fancy elevator shown at the start of the film and these are the telemarketers that “make the real money”. Later on in the film, we see them as a predominantly white group of people with pristine offices in contrast to the cramped and generic blue floor of the normal telemarketers.
Given that this is Boots Riley’s first feature film to be shown and that it is as good as it is already only making the project as impressive as it is. The overall aesthetic utilizes different shades of blue and warm colors to fill up the frame and it makes the whole thing visually appealing even though most of the settings takes place in dark lit rooms and offices. Praise should also be given to the tight-knit direction Riley gave to the project. His past real-life experience of being a telemarketer only makes the scenes containing the element all the more engaging and realistic. There is not better person to guide something than one who experienced it first-hand.
There is a certain genius to the title “Sorry to Bother You”. The first and obvious reference would be the constant phrase the telemarketers would use every time they talk to a customer through the phone. But it can also be a subtle message the director himself is trying to impart to us. Let’s face it, the movie deals with a lot of heavy and mature themes and concepts. The film wants to have a voice that should be heard by a lot of people whether they want to or not. Unfortunately, reality is that people nowadays don’t want to be called out. They don’t want to find out that what they are doing isn’t necessarily right and that it should be changed or corrected. This film will bother people with what they are showing in such a dark comedic way but even more, it’ll disturb the ones who know that it’s trying to jab at certain practices in society today.
Sorry to Bother You is a type of film in which you can view as something that isn’t “that deep” and in turn, you will have highly enjoyable experience with it. But, take a step back and appreciate its countless symbolisms and parallels that it oh so cleverly sprinkles throughout the engaging runtime and it’ll reward you with one of the most eye-opening movies about our current times that doesn’t fall into the easy trap of utilizing a dark tone to catch people’s attention.
Same praise can be said for the actors who all gave an entertaining performance for their respective characters. Although, it’s unavoidable that some stand out while others fall flat such as Steven Yeun’s Squeeze which is disappointing considering how talented the Asian actor is as he has proven multiple times with his earlier projects. But then again, his character was never a completely useless addition. Which says a lot in a sense that one of the least engaging parts of the film isn’t exactly all that bad to begin with so it’s only right to think that every element jells well together to form one cohesive machine.
If it wasn’t obvious enough already, Sorry to Bother You was a highly enjoyable experience that genuinely caught my attention and eyes glued to the screen till the very end of the credits. It’s a type of film that I would say I can respect with how bold it stood its ground within the current socio-political issues it finds itself fully embracing for the service of the absurd plot. Does it need a sequel? No but the ending leaves it open enough that I can see the possibilities this insane world can take its characters to but at the same time, it also can stand alone enough to leave a satisfying open conclusion to Cash and the gang. One thing’s for sure, this movie bothered me, and the only thing it should be sorry for is that it didn’t do it sooner.
Elements of Screen Arts (2019) 