First Take: Sorry To Bother You- but really though?

SYNOPSIS: 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.

Well then. Screen Unseen is obviously meant to get people talking about the big new releases coming into cinemas. Once again the Great Men and Women of the blog gathered at the blue brand of cinema to see what they had in store, and it was honestly one of the most surreal films I have ever seen.

Boots Riley writes and directs this very unique piece of satire, and while its themes, values, and humour are very much relevant, British audiences may have difficulty understanding the ideas presented in the film, and believe me, there were some very confused faces at the end of the 1 hour 51 minute mind-flip we’d just experienced. It’s paced pretty decently, but the variety of styles on offer make the film a little too confusing to follow, luckily the cinematography from Doug Emmett, and the soundtrack from The Coup does the job- it’s just the plot that audiences will properly struggle to get their heads around, especially with a truly out of nowhere twist quite late into the film.

Performance wise, Lakeith Stanfield (best known as Andre in 2017′s Get Out) is fantastic, and with him you have a cast which includes Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Omari Hardwick, Armie Hammer, the legendary Danny Glover and many more- this really is where the film comes alive, it’s just a shame that this cast are overshadowed by surrealist ideas that would feel at home in arthouse cinemas- I don’t see a big release for this film happening here in the UK, but that’s arguably the point of these Screen Unseens after all.

THE VERDICT

This is a truly weird film. But for those of you who like a little Mighty Boosh feel to political and social commentaries in cinema, this is made for you alright- as for casual audiences, it’s one of those rare releases that is simply insane.

RATING: 3/5