With little speculation about the true plot of the cynical satire of the year, I went into Sorry to Bother You with high hopes and an open-mind. I left (early) with crushed, confused dreams and a sour taste in my mouth.
The trailer for this film made it seem like it would be similar to Get Out with a unique and campy twist. Instead, it was an over-saturated episode of Black Mirror I didn’t know I had signed up to watch.
The beginning of Sorry to Bother You starts off normal and a little bit slow which was a bit of a red flag for me. Even the jokes took too long to hit their mark, leaving me unsatisfied but wanting the film to redeem itself.
We meet Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) and his girlfriend, Detriot (the incredible Tessa Thompson), as they start new jobs as telemarketers for a crappy company that is only about driving profits. If you do well as a caller, you get to move up to a “power caller,” an ominous title that means you get to take a golden elevator to the top floor of the building and make a staggering amount of money. When Cassius gets a tip from a coworker to use his “white voice” when making calls, his luck shifts, and he skyrockets to the top of the game. Here is where it gets weird…
There are a lot of details revealed throughout the beginning of the film that seem redundant and/ or rudimentary. However, these moments are actually pieces to a bomb that is dropped mid-movie.
I never reveal spoilers, so I will just clarify that the underlying messages of this film runs deep – exploring racism, how corporate America doesn’t care about their workers, slavery, how television has gone to crap and social injustice. I am all for divulging into these important topics, but I couldn’t get on board with how this film broke it down. It’s shocking, ridiculous and disturbing – and somehow other critics seem to be loving it.
I always try and see the positive in any film I see and Sorry to Bother You had its moments. Tessa Thompson is exquisite in everything she does, and Armie Hammer shows off his over-due acting chops by planning a psychotic CEO. The filter on the film was vibrant and the soundtrack steals the show. I can appreciate elements of this movie – I just can’t endorse it.
If you feel the need to see Sorry to Bother You, don’t bother wasting $10 on a movie ticket and just wait till it comes out on Red Box. Or don’t bother seeing it at all. To each their own.
Sorry to Bother You is in theaters now. Click here to listen to my podcast with Montez on 96.1 KISS FM!
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