Oakland filmmaker Boots Riley considers his brainy and unorthodox “I Love Boosters” to be his best movie yet.
And after seeing it, it’s hard to disagree. His surreal R-rated Oakland-set heist dramedy (filmed partially in the East Bay but mostly in Atlanta) is not only worthy of repeat viewings but takes a hugely satisfying, stand-up-and-cheer swipe at out-of-control capitalism — a common theme in Riley’s three film/streaming projects.
“Boosters” centers on a squad of upstart shoplifters dubbed the Velvet Mafia (played by Keke Palmer, Taylour Paige and Naomi Ackie, and later, Poppy Liu and Eiza González), who are intent on making life miserable for an ethically deficient Bay Area fashion maven (played by Demi Moore) by swiping her often monochromatic designer duds and selling them at an affordable price.
It opens in theaters May 22.
“I’m trying to make an amusement park ride,” Riley says of his absurdist follow-up to 2018’s “Sorry to Bother You.” “And that’s what cinema needs right now. I think we need stuff that makes people engage.”
“Boosters” does that while giving the brain a hard-core workout. Given the enthusiastic reactions at advance screenings — including two sold-out Centerpiece shows that were part of this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival — Riley’s assessment might be in tune with audiences’. It could result in his biggest hit yet.
In addition to being outrageous and funny, “Boosters” addresses hot-button issues such as excessively high Bay Area rents; deplorable working conditions; the shallow, callous fashion industry; and even loneliness. It also includes a discussion on dialectical materialism — a complex philosophy developed by Karl Marx and others. In other words, there’s a lot to chew on while marveling at its color scheme, stop-motion animation and set design. And it’s hard not to cheer on its female-fronted cast of characters.
“When I can feel it is making me want to cheer and cry and all that after all these times (of watching it), I know it’s working at a high level,” Riley said during a whirlwind one-day San Francisco press tour. “Boosters” co-stars Liu (“Hacks”), González (“Baby Driver”) and Oscar-nominee LaKeith Stanfield, a frequent collaborator of Riley’s, joined him.
“It’s also doing things that I have objectively not seen done before in a film,” Riley added. “It’s pushing things. It has a different pacing, a different rhythm to it and I can tell when I’ve done something that feels new to people. I haven’t seen a film do something that ends up where the win is something that’s as radical as what’s happening now.”
If Riley’s reasoning on why he thinks “Boosters” is his best film yet sounds as if he’s referencing music, there’s a good reason for that. He’s the primary vocalist, songwriter and producer of the influential Oakland hip-hop group The Coup (one of whose songs, “I Love Boosters!,” is said to be the inspiration for the film).
He sees filmmaking as similar to music-making, a collaborative process that taps and elevates individual strengths. As he did with his previous projects, Riley incorporates Bay Area talent for “Boosters!” The music was created by the Oakland-based duo of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner — aka Tune-Yards — who also worked on Riley’s previous film, “Sorry to Bother You.” And the set construction coordinator was Ben Nichols of Oakland.
The 55-year-old Riley made a splash with his Oakland-set “Sorry to Bother You,” a unique filmmaking experience starring Stanfield as a shooting star of a telemarketer who uses his “white voice” to generate sales, and which included the startling images of horse people. He also created the Amazon Prime Oakland-set series “I’m a Virgo,” about a 13-foot Oakland teen figuring out his place in the world.
Riley’s whirlwind of ideas ping-pong unpredictability in “I Love Boosters.” And it’s his daring outside-of-the-box creativity that makes his cast of actors adore him.
“In all of Boots’ films, you never know which turn you’re taking, where it’s going to take you,” said Stanfield — who plays a sensual, flirtatious presence named Pinky Ring Guy whose seductive, imploring eyes entice Corvette (Palmer).
“I just think he’s one of those filmmakers that is willing to push boundaries and do different things, and he also has a soul, so he cares,” Stanfield adds. “It’s not merely about entertainment, although entertainment is valuable. It’s also, hopefully, about inspiring questions, conversations and reflection.”
One of the film’s biggest reflections involves a heady discourse on dialectical materialism, a complicated philosophical principle based on how opposing forces and contradictions fuel change.
Or at least that’s partly what “Boosters” is about.
The actor breaking down that concept in digestible terms is González, a rising star who plays store clerk Violeta. She is no stranger to complex, intellectually challenging subject matters, having starred in Netflix’s mind-bending sci-fi series “3 Body Problem.” She appreciates the challenges that Riley’s film presents.
“You have to really know what you’re talking about to just memorize it because there’s a lot of big words and concepts,” she said. “And so truly the only way to be able to memorize a dialogue like that is understanding what you’re saying.”
Liu admits it took her a few times to grasp the entire essence of dialectical materialism’s meaning. But she was, from the start, deeply moved when she read the story arc of her character Jianhu — a garment industry worker in China fed up with impossible working conditions.
“The last 10 minutes of the movie really hits hard for me,” Liu said, adding the film couldn’t be more of the moment. That is part of the beauty of Riley’s films, she adds.
“It’s nice to work with someone that listens ultimately and is bringing an original story with original ideas. He’s pushing the boundaries of filmmaking.”
Riley says he purposely likes catching his audiences off guard.
“I want to give people something that keeps them on their toes, that keeps them a little wobbly,” he said. “It’s like life. I wanted to have some connection to that. It’s weird for me to say that, because obviously there’s all sorts of unrealistic things (in the film) where it’s in your face and not real. But the journey makes you feel it’s real.”
For Stanfield — an accomplished actor and remarkable musician who was honored with a Star of the Year Award at this year’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas — being a part of “I Love Boosters” fits in with the artistic choices he’s making as a father of three. (His wife, Kasmere Trice Stanfield, appears in “Boosters” for one of its most shocking moments.)
“I make a concerted effort to consider what kind of world they’re gonna have to grow up in and what we’re leaving behind,” said Stanfield, who was nominated for an Oscar for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, storytelling in this format is very powerful and it can affect a lot of people, especially impressionable minds. So you’ve got to be aware of what we’re putting out there. Yeah, we’re trying to entertain but also maybe we can edify, and that’s if we’re able to do both. Then I feel like we’ve hit the sweet spot that I want to reside in now.
Riley says he hopes in the future his socially minded works actually lose their immediacy.
“I aim to make art that gets made irrelevant,” he said. “At some point in the future somebody will be like, ‘Why? Why was he caring about this?’ And they’ll have to look at history and see why.”