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Movie basic details
Current status - Released
Total runtime - 112 mins.
Release date - 06-07-2018
Release year - 2018
Genres - Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Overall ratings and scores for Sorry to Bother You:
Happiness Score - 6.8/10, World Popularity Score - 12.152/100, IMDB Score - 6.9, Metascore - 80, Internet Movie Database - 6.9/10, Rotten Tomatoes - 93%, Metacritic - 80/100, .
Sorry to Bother You movie has Total Global Votes - 1042, Total IMD Votes - 71,440
Sorry to Bother You Movie Introduction: Movie Sorry to Bother You, release year 2018 is written by Boots Riley and directed by Boots Riley. The leading star-cast in this movie are LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler along with the other stars and crew members.
Trailers, Clips, Featurettes and Behind the Scenes
Movie overview and plot by Narmada Pallavi
Movie in-short: In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.
Movie story-line: In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.
Movie synopsis: In an alternate version of Oakland, Cassius Green gets a telemarketing job and finds the commission paid job a dispiriting struggle as a black man selling to predominately white people over the phone. That changes when a veteran advises him to use his "white voice," and the attitude behind it to make himself more appealing to customers. With a bizarrely high-pitched accent, Cassius becomes a success even as his colleagues form a union to improve their miserable jobs. Regardless, Cassius finds himself promoted a "Power Caller" selling the most morally abhorrent but lucrative products and services as his connection to his girlfriend and colleagues fades away. However, Cassius' conscience arises anew as he finds himself in the midst of his boss' bizarre world of condescending bigoted decadence and his sinister plans to create the perfect subservient work force with Cassius' help.
Highlights - Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Total budget - $0.00
Total revenue - $0.00
Produced by - CinereachSignificant ProductionsMACROMNM CreativeThe Space Program
Produced in - United States of America
Available languages - English (English),
Homepage URL - http://sorrytobotheryou.movie
Awards won / Nominations - 19 wins & 57 nominations
Certificate(s) - DE : 16 FR : U IE : 16 GB : 15 GB : 15 SE : 청소년 관람불가 KR : 16 NL : R
Lead Actors, Writer(s), Director(s) of Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Lead Actors - LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler
Writer(s) - Boots Riley
Director(s) - Boots Riley
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) about Sorry to Bother You (2018)
What is the release date of Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Release date of Sorry to Bother You (2018) is 06-07-2018.
What is the total runtime of Sorry to Bother You (2018) in minutes?
Total runtime of Sorry to Bother You (2018) in minutes is 112 min.
What is the budget consumed to produce Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie?
The budget consumed to produce Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie is around $0.00.
How much revenue is expected from movie Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Expected revenue from movie movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) is around $0.00.
What is the pupularity of Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Worldwide pupularity of Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie is 12.152%.
What is the name of the production company of film Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Production company of film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is/are Cinereach, Significant Productions, MACRO, MNM Creative, The Space Program, .
Which country the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is produced in?
Film production country for the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is United States of America, .
Which language the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is produced in?
Film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is produced in English (English), language(s).
Which Genre the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) belongs to?
Movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) is categorized under Comedy, Drama, Fantasy genre(s).
Who are the lead actors of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Lead actors of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) are LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler.
Who is the writer of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
The writer(s) of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is/are Boots Riley.
Who is the director of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
The director(s) of the film Sorry to Bother You (2018) is/are Boots Riley.
Which awards, nominations and recognitions are won by Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie?
Movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) has 19 wins & 57 nominations awards and nomination in it's profile.
What is the story of Sorry to Bother You (2018) in-short?
Short plot of movie Sorry to Bother You (2018): In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed..
What is the full story of Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie?
Full plot of movie Sorry to Bother You (2018): In an alternate version of Oakland, Cassius Green gets a telemarketing job and finds the commission paid job a dispiriting struggle as a black man selling to predominately white people over the phone. That changes when a veteran advises him to use his "white voice," and the attitude behind it to make himself more appealing to customers. With a bizarrely high-pitched accent, Cassius becomes a success even as his colleagues form a union to improve their miserable jobs. Regardless, Cassius finds himself promoted a "Power Caller" selling the most morally abhorrent but lucrative products and services as his connection to his girlfriend and colleagues fades away. However, Cassius' conscience arises anew as he finds himself in the midst of his boss' bizarre world of condescending bigoted decadence and his sinister plans to create the perfect subservient work force with Cassius' help..
Where to find full details of Sorry to Bother You (2018) movie?
You can find the full details of movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5688932
Where to stream or watch movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) online?
You can stream or watch online movie Sorry to Bother You (2018) on Star Plus, Sky Store, Rakuten TV, Chili, Amazon Video, maxdome Store, Apple iTunes, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Microsoft Store, Fetch TV, Cineplex, Hollystar, EntertainTV, Blockbuster, SF Anytime, Filmstriben, Telia Play, Orange VOD, Filmo TV, Canal VOD, Canal+, OCS Go, Virgin TV Go, Strim, Wink, TriArt Play, Cineasterna, Hulu, IMDB TV Amazon Channel, Redbox, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand, .
List of full Starcast and crew members of Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Full Starcast:
Name: Lakeith Stanfield
Character: Cassius "Cash" GreenName: Tessa Thompson
Character: DetroitName: Jermaine Fowler
Character: SalvadorName: Omari Hardwick
Character: Mr. _______Name: Terry Crews
Character: Sergio GreenName: Patton Oswalt
Character: Mr. _______'s White VoiceName: David Cross
Character: Cassius Green's White VoiceName: Danny Glover
Character: LangstonName: Steven Yeun
Character: SqueezeName: Armie Hammer
Character: Steve LiftName: Mahari Crown
Character: Fake CashName: Lily James
Character: Detroit's White VoiceName: Kate Berlant
Character: Diana DeBaucheryName: Michael X. Sommers
Character: JohnnyName: Robert Longstreet
Character: AndersonName: Forest Whitaker
Character: First Equisapien / DemariusName: Rosario Dawson
Character: Voice in Elevator (voice)Name: Tom Woodruff Jr.
Character: EquisapienName: Molly Brady
Character: Entertainment Tonight ReporterName: Dawayne Jordan
Character: Football PlayerName: Teresa Navarro
Character: TelemarketerName: Tony Toste
Character: Blackwater AgentName: Omie Garba
Character: Girl in VIP RoomName: John Ozuna
Character: Name: William W. Barbour
Character: Soldier / Party GuestName: Marcella Bragio
Character: Power Caller / Lady in RedName: James D. Weston II
Character: Blackwater AgentName: Shelley Mitchell
Character: Mrs. CostelloName: Indigo Jackson
Character: Cynthia Rose / Neanderthal Woman
Crew Members:
Name: Forest Whitaker
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Kim Roth
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Caroline Kaplan
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Valerie White
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Set CostumerName: Valerie White
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Key CostumerName: Sarah Kliban
Department: Production
Job/Role: Casting AssociateName: Eyde Belasco
Department: Production
Job/Role: CastingName: Kelly Williams
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Doug Emmett
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Director of PhotographyName: Boots Riley
Department: Writing
Job/Role: ScreenplayName: Boots Riley
Department: Directing
Job/Role: DirectorName: Boots Riley
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Original Music ComposerName: George Rush
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Debbie Brubaker
Department: Production
Job/Role: Line ProducerName: Debbie Brubaker
Department: Production
Job/Role: Co-ProducerName: Brian Benson
Department: Production
Job/Role: Co-ProducerName: Brian Benson
Department: Directing
Job/Role: First Assistant DirectorName: Philipp Engelhorn
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Terel Gibson
Department: Editing
Job/Role: EditorName: Aleksandra Stojanovic
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Foley ArtistName: Michael McMenomy
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Supervising Sound EditorName: Andrew Lewis
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Special Effects CoordinatorName: Ruy García
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Supervising Sound EditorName: Ruy García
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Sound Re-Recording MixerName: Jayson Johnson
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Assistant CameraName: Nina Yang Bongiovi
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Michael Y. Chow
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Jonathan Duffy
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Margaret Caragan
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Special Effects Makeup ArtistName: Heather MacLean
Department: Production
Job/Role: Location ManagerName: Daniel Brennan
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Sound Re-Recording MixerName: Gordon T. Wittmann
Department: Visual Effects
Job/Role: Visual Effects ProducerName: Deirdra Elizabeth Govan
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Costume DesignName: Joe Lindsay
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Steadicam OperatorName: Joe Lindsay
Department: Camera
Job/Role: "B" Camera OperatorName: Andrea Manners
Department: Directing
Job/Role: Script SupervisorName: Justine Baker
Department: Sound
Job/Role: ADR MixerName: Fred Runner
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Sound MixerName: Jason Kisvarday
Department: Art
Job/Role: Production DesignName: Kelsi Ephraim
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DecorationName: Thomas Pinney
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Boom OperatorName: Charlie Textor
Department: Art
Job/Role: Property MasterName: Charles D. King
Department: Production
Job/Role: ProducerName: Poppy Hanks
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Kristin Catuogno
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Sound RecordistName: Merrill Garbus
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Original Music ComposerName: Josie Rodriguez
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Key Makeup ArtistName: Lidia Tamplenizza
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Dialogue EditorName: Chris Martin
Department: Production
Job/Role: Production ManagerName: Hilton Jamal Day
Department: Directing
Job/Role: Second Assistant DirectorName: David Snook
Department: Production
Job/Role: Production AccountantName: Antoinette Yoka
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Hair Department HeadName: Treja McClish
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Assistant Makeup ArtistName: Julien De Benedictis
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: Rigging GripName: Joe Heath
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Deirdre Scully
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Costume SupervisorName: Angela Organ
Department: Editing
Job/Role: Assistant EditorName: Nik Wendelsdorf
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Josh Rappaport
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Post Production SupervisorName: Josh Rappaport
Department: Production
Job/Role: Co-ProducerName: Stephen Dudro
Department: Art
Job/Role: Art DirectionName: Mike Booth
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: Best Boy ElectricName: Mitsuko Alexandra Yabe
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Music EditorName: Allen Lau
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Assistant Sound EditorName: Christian Hoobyar
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Nicolas 'Nico' Ortiz y Pino
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: Rigging GripName: Phillip Buckley
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Set MedicName: Rashod Edwards
Department: Production
Job/Role: Assistant Location ManagerName: Sara Anders
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Craft ServiceName: Gus Deardoff
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Mathew Marden
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Key GripName: Sam Daley
Department: Editing
Job/Role: ColoristName: Kirsten Coleman
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Makeup Department HeadName: Melanie Leandro
Department: Art
Job/Role: Assistant Property MasterName: Ryan Coursey
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Sound Re-Recording MixerName: Darren Orr
Department: Visual Effects
Job/Role: Visual Effects SupervisorName: Michael K. Shen
Department: Production
Job/Role: Executive ProducerName: Saisie M. Jang
Department: Production
Job/Role: Assistant Location ManagerName: Buddy Allen Thomas
Department: Camera
Job/Role: First Assistant CameraName: Sarah Coy
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Assistant Makeup ArtistName: Christofer Moscoso
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Best Boy GripName: Luke Lasley
Department: Camera
Job/Role: First Assistant "B" CameraName: Vladimir Kerkez
Department: Sound
Job/Role: Foley RecordistName: Emily Hock
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Second Assistant CameraName: Drew Nelson
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: GafferName: Noelle Bernhard
Department: Production
Job/Role: Production CoordinatorName: Markus Fokken
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Set CostumerName: Laura F. Haynes
Department: Production
Job/Role: Production CoordinatorName: Erik Hattan
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Transportation CaptainName: Jason Hoobyar
Department: Art
Job/Role: LeadmanName: Roweena Mackay
Department: Art
Job/Role: Art Department CoordinatorName: Danger Charles
Department: Camera
Job/Role: First Assistant "B" CameraName: Brian Bisby
Department: Camera
Job/Role: Assistant CameraName: Nicholas Alexander
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Eric Paulsen
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: ElectricianName: Tandy Kyne
Department: Lighting
Job/Role: ElectricianName: Carlos Herter
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Orlando Rivera
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Zach Towner
Department: Camera
Job/Role: GripName: Shane Alan Richard
Department: Art
Job/Role: Assistant Property MasterName: Gaerick Duffin
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Larry Eisler
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Jason Feldman
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Jesse Orona
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Nick Koehler
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: Gregory Reft
Department: Art
Job/Role: Set DresserName: David Alan Gardner
Department: Art
Job/Role: Construction CoordinatorName: Mariana Urban
Department: Art
Job/Role: Art Department AssistantName: Paula Jean Fredrickson
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: TailorName: Amanda Mofield
Department: Costume & Make-Up
Job/Role: Hair SupervisorName: Sam Purdy
Department: Directing
Job/Role: Second Second Assistant DirectorName: Nick Alvarez
Department: Directing
Job/Role: Second Second Assistant DirectorName: Marcy Guiragossian
Department: Production
Job/Role: Extras CastingName: Marco Seropian
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Set MedicName: Max Kosma
Department: Crew
Job/Role: Craft ServiceName: Theresa Berens
Department: Art
Job/Role: Graphic DesignerName: Anitra Patterson
Department: Crew
Job/Role: In Memory OfName: Pam The Funkstress
Department: Crew
Job/Role: In Memory Of
Reviews Section
_Sorry To Bother You is “unapollogetic”, “unafraid”, “imaginative”._ These are the reviews of audiences, and critics; it’s hard to find someone that didn’t like this movie (unless you’re going to burrow through the Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews, in which case I’m sorry.) The cast is packed with familiar faces: Lakeith Stanfield (as Cassius) who also happened to be in _Get Out_, Jermaine Fowler who had just finished work on CBS’ _Superior Donuts_, Danny Glover from the _Lethal Weapon_ films, and Terry Crews. This movie had stunningly beautiful cinematography, and colors inspired by Bruce Block. Which is quite impressive considering the director (and writer) is a rapper with no background in film. But that story, what in the hell did I watch? If you had seen the trailer and decided you want to go see this movie, maybe see it, but be prepared when that trailer just goes out the window. There isn’t some shocker twist at the end, this is an entirely different story. Don’t go in thinking this is going to be funny, know that it’s a horror film and it will scar you. Think _Get Out_, but much, much worse (in a good way).
Such a great level of surrealism. I love when the setting is completely believeable, normal people, who could easily be from our world, but their's is totally weird. One criticism I will give is the imperfections in the dubbing, normally not a big deal, but dubbing is so absolutely **vital** to the story of _Sorry to Bother You_ that it is hard to get past. It was still a very pleasant surprise though, one I recommend, and one I particularly commend the core cast's performance in. _Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._
**_A sharp satire that runs a little too long and takes a bizarre left-turn that will alienate many_** > _In my view, corporations are illegitimate institutions of tyrannical power, with intellectual roots not unlike those of fascism and Bolshevism._ > [...] > _We can - and should - certainly begin pointing out that corporations are fundamentally illegitimate, and that they don't have to exist at all in their modern form. Just as other oppressive institutions - slavery, say, or royalty - have been changed or eliminated, so corporate power can be changed or eliminated. What are the lim__its? There aren't any. Everything is ultimately under public control._ - Noam Chomsky; _The Common Good_ (1998) A paean to the proletariat. A pro-union battle cry. An ideological evisceration of late capitalism. A deconstruction of corporate greed and the concomitant commercialisation of self-worth necessary to succeed. A critique of identity politics. An allegory of institutional racism in big business. A lampooning of Silicon Valley bro culture. _Sorry to Bother You_, the debut feature of writer/director Boots Riley, is all this, and more. Very much in the key of absurdist fiction such as Dino Buzzati's _Il deserto dei Tartari_ (1940) and Ralph Ellison's _Invisible Man_ (1952), as well as race-conscious satirical cinema such as Robert Downey Sr.'s _Putney Swope_ (1969) and Melvin Van Peebles's _Watermelon Man_ (1970), whilst drawing more direct inspiration from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's _Faust_ (c.1806-1831), Alex Cox's _Repo Man_ (1984), and the work of Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and, bizarrely, Ken Loach, _Sorry to Bother You_ is a black comedy/Juvenalian satire/science fiction/horror/magic realist/allegorical character study. In short, it's impossible to classify. Dealing with the obstacles facing African Americans in a white-dominated corporate _milieu_, and positing that the experience of workers is determined by both labour conditions and race, the film examines labour relations, wage issues, worker solidarity, unionism, mass media, and the dangers of betraying oneself and choosing corporate advancement over friendships, relationships, and personal integrity. Although it's a beat or two too long, and although the spectacularly bizarre left-turn at the end of the second act will surely alienate a lot of viewers, the deconstruction and comic appropriation of code-switching results in a film that is constantly inventive, highly confrontational, and extremely funny. Set in Oakland, California in an "alternate present", the company WorryFree offers food and lodging in exchange for a lifetime labour contract with no wages, a practice which the Supreme Court has deemed legal and not equivalent to slavery. Standing against WorryFree is the radical group "Left Eye", who organise protests and vandalise WorryFree's billboards. Unconcerned with any of this is Cassius "Cash" Green (LaKeith Stanfield), who lives in his uncle Sergio's (Terry Crews) garage with his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), a performance artist and, unbeknownst to Cash, a member of Left Eye. Struggling to pay rent, and with Sergio close to losing the house, Cash gets a job at the telemarketing firm RegalView, selling encyclopaedia sets. Initially finding it difficult to make any sales, Cash's luck changes when an older co-worker, Langston (Danny Glover), explains that he must use his "_white voice_" to be in any way successful. Proving adept at doing so, Cash quickly rises to become one of RegalView's elite "Power Callers." Meanwhile, a co-worker, Squeeze (Steven Yeun), forms a union and recruits Cash, Detroit, and their friend Salvador (Jermaine Fowler). Despite participating in an organised protest, Cash is surprised to get promoted. Now working in the luxurious upstairs suite, where he's mentored by Mr. _______ (a hilarious Omari Hardwick), Cash learns that RegalView is secretly selling human labour to WorryFree. Despite his misgivings, he is earning a substantial wage, and soon finds himself torn between his career and the labour movement. This is exacerbated when WorryFree CEO Steve Lift (a spectacular Armie Hammer) offers him a salary of $1 million a year to work directly for WorryFree. However, Cash then makes a discovery that changes everything, not just for himself, but potentially for all of humanity. Riley, who identifies as a communist (but not a Marxist), is best known (thus far) as the lead vocalist of the far-left hip-hop groups The Coup and Sweet Sweeper Social Club. His father, Walter, was a political activist, joining the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] in the '50s, and helping to organise the Greensboro sit-ins in 1960, protesting racial segregation in Woolworths and spearheading the Civil Rights' sit-in movement. Later, he joined CORE [Congress of Racial Equality], SDS [Students for a Democratic Society], and the PLP [Progressive Labor Party]. Riley himself joined the PLP when he was 14, but left when he was 20, subsequently becoming a prominent member of the Occupy Movement in Oakland, and playing a key role in the 15 October 2011 global protests. The screenplay for _Sorry to Bother You_ was inspired by Riley's time working as a telemarketer, and the necessity of altering his voice so as to hide his ethnicity. The script was completed in 2012, but he had no means to make it. Instead, The Coup recorded an album of the same name, based on the script. Of the album, Riley told _The Chicago Tribune_, it talks > _about the same stuff I'm always talking about. Capital and labour; racial inequality; organising the masses against a caste system of privilege; that sort of thing._ Words which are very applicable to the film. The script was then published in Timothy McSweeney's _Quarterly Concern_ in 2014, and Riley was subsequently invited to the Sundance Institute development labs to hone it further. At its heart, _Sorry to Bother You_ is an anti-corporate, proletarian rally cry, something with which Riley has been engaged for decades; just listen to "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish" from _Genocide & Juice_ (1994), "5 million ways to kill a C.E.O." from _Party Music_ (2001), or "My Favorite Mutiny" from _Pick a Bigger Weapon_ (2006). In relation to this, Riley tells DemocracyNow, > _the Taft-Hartely make it so you can't do solidarity strikes. And the reason why they make it so you can't do solidarity strikes is because they're effective. And so, we need a labour movement that's going to break those laws, because the laws that exist make the current ways of organising unions much harder. So, [the film] is almost also a call out to folks that consider theirself radicals._ Similarly, he explains to Hot97, > _we need to have movements that can actually shut down industries in order to get what we want._ However, unlike Sam Levinson's recent satire _Assassination Nation_, _Sorry to Bother You_ is not especially interested in politics _per se_, certainly not in the explicit sense of films such as Sergei M. Eisenstein's _Stachka_ (1925), Haskell Wexler's _Medium Cool_ (1969), or Warren Beatty's _Bulworth_ (1998). This is not to say that the film ignores politics completely, rather it approaches the subject obliquely. For example, the country's most popular TV show, _I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me_, involves people being violently assaulted by family and friends and then dunked in a vat of faeces, with Riley providing little to no contextualisation (think _It's Not My Problem!_ from Paul Verhoeven's _Robocop_ (1987), where Bixby Snyder's (S.D. Nemeth) catchphrase, "I'd buy that for a dollar", is used as a one-size-fits-all response to every situation). This mindless consumption of meaningless and morally questionable content indicates the passivity of the masses, their critical faculties either dormant or absent entirely (an inverse _verfremdungseffekt_, if you will). Clips of the show feature prominently throughout the film, allowing Riley to depict a _milieu_ where popular entertainment has reached an unimaginable low. Another example of a pseudo-political aspect of the film are the ubiquitous billboards and TV commercials advertising WorryFree, suggesting the corruption or co-opting of mass media. Additionally, Left Eye clearly recalls Antifa. However, in relation to the most obvious political target for a film of this ilk, Trump's presidency, Riley has explicitly stated it is not an attack on Trump. Indeed, he wrote the script during the Obama administration, before Trump had even announced his candidacy. To ensure that the audience wouldn't think the film's invective was aimed at Trump, Riley made some changes after the election, such as removing a line where Mr. _______ says, "_WorryFree is making America great again_". On this pseudo-prescience, Riley tells the _LA Times_, > _there are so many things in this movie that, when I wrote them, hadn't happened yet [...] The reason that these things are becoming more and more clear to us now is because it's connected to our economic system, not just connected to who's in elected office._ As this suggests, Riley's focus is very much on economic issues, with a lot of the humour derived from pecuniary-based situations. One of the easiest ways to parse the film is to approach it as a parable about selling out, equal parts polemic and acknowledgement that it's next to impossible _not_ to sell out in some way. Indeed, the last act of the film explicitly deals with the literal dehumanisation of the workforce (and I do mean "literal" – to say any more would be a spoiler). RegalView and WorryFree exist in an economic system built upon impoverishing the many for the benefit of the few, with Riley attempting to expose the importance of a poverty line for the continued functioning of late capitalism. Within such a system, he suggests, it is exceptionally difficult for African Americans to succeed unless they are willing to code-switch. In this sense, although the concept of "_white voice_" does have a practical function within the narrative, its most salient characteristic is as an object of allegorical satire, a hyperbolic caricature of what African Americans need to do to survive in the Caucasian bro-culture corporate ranks of Silicon Valley; they must literally relinquish part of the self and pretend to be something Other. Speaking to DemocracyNow, Riley explains, > _the new capitalism is "there is no capitalism here. What are you talking about?" It's like, this is not a workplace, this is a bean bag room. And I'm not your boss, I'm your friend who tells you what to do." And so, as opposed to the oil baron idea, these are the cool people that everyone loves._ This is represented most clearly in the film by Steve Lift. Interestingly, however, it's not just at RegalView where white voice is necessary; in attempting to woo customers to her art exhibition, Detroit too employs white voice. However, unlike Cash or Mr. _______'s white voices (provided by David Cross and Patton Oswalt, respectively), Detroit's is not only white, it's also British (voiced by Lily James), a distortion not only of her ethnicity, but so too of her nationality. She uses this voice to convince customers to take her art seriously, suggesting that she feels if she spoke in her real voice, they would not do so. The film also delights in fairly subtle and oftentimes semi-obscure intertextuality. For example, a pair of earrings worn by Detroit declares, "Bury the rag deep in your face". This is from the Bob Dylan song, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol" (1963), which is about a black barmaid who died after being assaulted by the 24-year-old William Zanzinger, from the wealthy Zanzinger tobacco farming family. Zanzinger was initially charged with murder, but this was later reduced to manslaughter and assault. He was found guilty by a three judge panel and sentenced to six months in prison, as well as a fine of $500. Elsewhere in _Sorry to Bother You_, during a piece of performance art in which she encourages the audience to throw mobile phones and balloons filled with lamb's blood at her, Detroit quotes from Michael Schultz's _The Last Dragon_ (1985), a martial arts movie produced by Motown founder Berry Gordy. Another example of intertextuality is that Mr. _______ dresses like King George (Robert DoQui) from Jack Hill's blaxploitation classic _Coffy_ (1973). Aesthetically, the film adopts a visual style obviously influenced by Michel Gondry, and, to a lesser extent, Terry Gilliam. An especially interesting aesthetic device, as anyone who has seen the trailer can attest, is how white voice is handled – rather than having the actors simply speak in a different voice, Riley instead has the white actors' voices overdubbed; when Salvador first hears Cash's white voice, he literally tells him "_you sound overdubbed_". However, the lip syncing is, presumably intentionally, far from perfect, with the voice not quite aligning with the actors' mouth movements. This throws the scenes "off" ever so slightly, creating an extra layer of surreality, and highlighting just how absurd the whole thing is, drawing attention to the lengths these people have to go to achieve real success. The fact that our culture places such value on "correct" intonation is, in and of itself, absurd, like an extreme version of the phone voice that pretty much everyone has, and by failing to perfectly sync white voice to black actor, Riley is able to deconstruct and draw attention to this absurdity. The film's other big aesthetic innovation is having Cash plunge (not especially gracefully) into the living room of the people he calls, desk and all. Obviously, this draws attention to the level of intrusion with which most people greet telemarketers, but, at least in the early stages, it also highlights Cash's own discomfit at being the intruder, seen most clearly when he drops in on a couple having sex. This is an excellently-handled piece of visual shorthand, conveying Cash's internal process, without having him verbalise it at any point. Also impressive is the acting. While the standout performances are definitely Hammer and Hardwick, Stanfield certainly holds his own, with his body-language providing a clinic of wordless performing. Early on in the film, he's hunched over and put-upon, his every movement seemingly uncomfortable, as if ill at ease in his own skin. Later on, however, after his promotion at RegalView, his physicality acquires a more easy nature, he carries himself more confidently, as if high-powered telemarketing has helped him to find himself, something which is, in the context of the whole, doubly ironic. And no matter how surreal things get (and trust me, they get very, _very_ surreal), the cast keep everything grounded, as if what they're experiencing at any given moment is the most natural thing in the world. Of course, it isn't all perfect. The wildly unexpected plot twist at the end of the second act will be too much for some people (there were multiple walk-outs at the screening I attended). The film is also just a beat or two too long, and the bottom does fall out to an extent before it reaches its madcap _dénouement_. There's also a mid-credit scene that serves as a kind of epilogue that I'm led to believe was a re-shoot when test audiences found the initial ending too abrupt. For me, however, it doesn't entirely work, and I would have much preferred the original, somewhat darker, ending. Also, with so much satire and humour floating about, almost by definition, not every joke lands, However, the flip side to this is that when Riley's humour does hit the target, it's sublime – Mr. _______ literally beep-denied a name, for example, or Cash's two-word rap being gleefully cheered by Lift's assembled yuppies. _Sorry to Bother You_ is as timely and relevant as it is funny and irreverent, as progressive as it is radical, and as inventive as it is confident. Exploring the intersection between race and economics from a wholly satirical point-of-view, the film both condemns and sympathises with those who choose to sell-out in some way so as to climb the ladder of success. Now in his late-40s, Riley is a veteran political protestor, a Chomsky-literate agitator, who is here positing that the most significant divide in the US isn't between white and black, it's between those with money and those without. Suggesting that the desire to cross this divide can lead to a herd mentality, the film argues that the labour force must never forget their collective strength, and must never turn on one another, as in such a situation, management will use workers like horses. A hugely impressive debut, and it will be interesting to see what Riley tackles next.
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