There are few artists who excite me more than Boots Riley, who has proven to be one of the most essential voices in contemporary media, whether it is through the incredible work he did as the lead singer of The Coup, or his recent pivot to filmmaking, where he has been able to express himself in abstract and fascinating ways. His second feature film is I Love Boosters, which immediately establishes itself as one of his most intriguing endeavours, and one that proves to be a worthy successor to his masterful Sorry to Bother You, which turned out to be the perfect calling card for someone who has already started to leave quite a strong impression on the industry, despite only having a small handful of productions under his belt. The film is set in a slightly futuristic (but still very recognisable) version of San Francisco, and follows Corvette, Mariah and Sade, a trio of young women who are collectively known as the “Velvet Gang”, although they prefer to be known as “boosters”, a real term that refers to people who shoplift valuable commodities such as clothing and then sell them as a reduced price, usually to members of the community that may not always have access to luxury items. When they decide that their next target is going to be Christie Smith, a world-renowned fashion maven and cultural icon, the trio (Corvette in particular) begin to see that there is much more to their vocation than they expected, especially when it becomes increasingly clear that the fashion industry has inner turmoil that their activities only prove to exacerbate as time progresses. Armed with only their resourcefulness and a desire to see improvements in both their community and those around the world, the trio set out to leave their mark, even if it means potentially facing some very challenging obstacles, which they readily embrace, regardless of the potential consequences. Bold, daring and exceptionally offbeat, I Love Boosters is an immensely entertaining work handcrafted by a director whose willingness to push boundaries will always be one of his greatest strengths, even when working with a subject that many may consider to be slightly too unwieldy to be completely effective.

Regardless of how many dissidents try and convince us otherwise, all art is inherently political, and you simply cannot separate the real-world aspects from just about any piece of media, even if it isn’t obvious. Riley is someone who has dedicated his professional career to seeking out answers to questions that are typically very difficult to navigate, choosing to create bold and exuberant satires that may seem extremely lightweight and inconsequential at a cursory glance, but have some of the most stark, harrowing social and cultural commentary one can imagine. In the case of I Love Boosters, it’s message is not difficult to figure out (Riley seems to be someone who is singularly uninterested in playing coy – he makes it very clear what he intends to say, and sees no point in concealing his goals), since what starts as an eccentric story of friends trying to make a living eventually turns into a vicious, sardonic treatise against capitalism, a hilarious but provocative satire that aims the interconnected industries that form the basis for a homogenous establishment that controls the global population, keeping us divided based on economic status and influence, which we know tend to be interwoven with one another. Anyone who has encountered Riley’s online presence will know how much of I Love Boosters is intertwined with his personal beliefs, to the point where it is not surprising to see the extent to which he is willing to go to tell this already very complex story. While it may not be particularly original in what it is trying to say (many films about the pitfalls of capitalism and the need to dismantle the economic establishment have been made over the years), the idea of dismantling an entire industry and in the process liberating entire communities is very effective and profoundly resonant, having a quiet complexity that we certainly can appreciate for the most part, even if it is occasionally quite obvious. Riley is not someone who seems particularly motivated by the desire to prove his intellect – he is evidently an extremely educated individual who filters his perspective through his art, and his decision to take this subject and craft what is essentially an entry-level course into deconstructing and decolonising the economic establishment immediately makes I Love Boosters an essential contemporary work.

If there was ever any proof needed that Riley is someone who is very much in the good graces of the industry and genuinely well-liked by his peers, we just need to look at the casts he manages to assemble for his projects. So far, every one of his three directorial outings (both theatrical and for television) has featured sprawling ensemble casts, consisting of several eclectic names, ranging from promising upstarts to seasoned veterans, all of whom are entirely committed to the assignment that they have been handed. The central trio consists of Keke Palmer (who continues her steady march to become one of the most genuinely charismatic young actors working today), Naomie Ackie and Taylour Paige, all of whom are very much representative of the future of the industry, having a unique charisma that works well both independently and in conjunction with one another. The chemistry between the three leads is palpable, which is both a credit to their willingness to surrender to the inherent madness of this story, as well as Riley writing three absolutely wonderful roles and giving them to performers that he knew would deliver. Even though Palmer may be the primary focus, the other two are just as strong, especially since they each occupy their own unique niche, playing characters similar enough to make the friendship believable, but also not too vague that they lose their identity in the process. The supporting cast is just as strong, consisting of actors who may have smaller roles, but don’t leave any less strong of an impression. Demi Moore is the film’s primary villain, and through continuing on a comeback that has allowed her to reinvent herself as a character actor, someone who could really sink her teeth into a challenging and fun role when it comes her way. Lakeith Stanfield (who led Riley’s previous film) is having a blast as Palmer’s enigmatic love interest, Will Poulter is a riot as the skittish clothing store manager, and a range of other tremendous actors appear, usually in brief bit parts that may not be on screen for too long, but form essential parts of the peculiar existential tapestry that Riley is committed to evoking throughout this wonderfully deranged film.

There’s ultimately nothing being said in I Love Boosters that hasn’t been explored before, and the brilliance comes in how Riley brings these ideas to life. As is often the case, the best way for someone to make their mark on the industry is to create something that is impossible to ignore, which the director does through establishing a very clear visual style, one that is unlike anything being produced today. He draws a lot of inspiration from several sources, cinematic and otherwise, and the results are colourful, exuberant works of storytelling that are visually distinct and tonally quite strange. In recent years, there has been some discourse around how even films about fashion tend to have fallen victim to the industry’s practice of struggling to work with colour in the way that it used to, leading to many films feels washed out and quite dull – and whether he was working from a place of trying to remedy this, or simply inspired by his own vision for this story, I Love Boosters is an absolutely stunning film on a purely aesthetic level. Every frame is bursting with colour, and while it can sometimes be quite overwhelming to see how much pure visual chaos is taking place on screen, we begin to see just how much everything is creatively curated down to the smallest detail, every decision having a purpose behind it, which guides this film towards a more interesting place, one that would simply not have been possible had Riley allowed himself to be tempted to be more subdued. Not only is the visual component unforgettable, but the director also puts his decades of musical experience to good use, creating a score (both original compositions and existing songs) that complements everything that we’re seeing on screen, featuring a soundtrack as eclectic and idiosyncratic as the story that surrounds it. I Love Boosters is a marvel of creativity, a daring piece of filmmaking that is never afraid to push the envelope, guided by the adage that it is better to be over-the-top than boring in certain situations, this being a perfect example in practice.

While it may not reach the impossible heights of Sorry to Bother You or be as captivating as I’m a Virgo, this film is still a fascinating piece of filmmaking, and further proof that Riley is the very definition of a generational talent, someone who may make films that veer towards the excessive and ornate on occasion (and ultimately prove to be an acquired taste for most), but who is consistently engage in the act of trying to redefine the stories that cinema is willing to tell. It may tread familiar narrative territory, but goes about it in such a wonderfully offbeat way that we barely even notice how he is essentially just repeating the same anti-establishment rhetoric that tends to be most prominent in a lot of contemporary social comedies. It remains to be seen if I Love Boosters will be one of those satires that age exceptionally well and become defining of a generation, or become a slightly dated remnant of its time – I veer towards the former, but anything can happen when working with such provocative material, even if it is difficult to deny the impeccable impact made by this film in terms of challenging the social system in a subversive, daring way. It’s a wonderfully strange film that allows Riley to take some extremely bold swings where it makes sense, while also assimilating several more sombre ideas into the fabric of the story, which creates a multilayered comedy that oscillates between wacky and subversive, often being able to comment on a number of intriguing issues simultaneously. It’s not particularly original in terms of what it is trying to say, but it still is worth watching just to see this message communicated directly, without any attempt to conceal it under layers of dense, unrealistic storytelling. Bold and inventive, and never anything short of wickedly entertaining, I Love Boosters is a terrific achievement, and further evidence that Riley is one of our most exciting, daring filmmakers working today, and someone who I suspect will only become more important as the years progress and the abstract ideas that populate his films become more starkly realistic.