I LOVE BOOSTERS movie poster | ©2025 Neon

Rating: R
Stars: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Demi Moore, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Kerris Dorsey, Alan Z, Ming Sun, Rachel Walters
Writer: Boots Riley
Director: Boots Riley
Distributor: Neon
Release Date: May 22, 2026

While not connected narratively, writer/director Boots Riley’s new phantasmagoria I LOVE BOOSTERS feels like a thematic sequel to his 2018 feature debut SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. Both are set in Oakland, both focus on Black protagonists struggling to survive in a world dominated by capitalist forces, and both incorporate outrageous science-fiction/fantasy elements.

But where SORRY TO BOTHER YOU had its main character suffer through humiliation and misery, the leads in I LOVE BOOSTERS are adamant about their freedom. They may be broke, verging on desperate, but when they play parts, it’s on their own terms.

Also, while SORRY had its fair share of unexpected twists, I LOVE BOOSTERS is merely boisterous for only its first section, before becoming entirely gonzo and continually upping the ante. We get stop-motion animation, monsters, a device that would confound Doctor Who, and enough bright colors to burn sensitive retinas.

Boosters, for those unfamiliar with the term, are people who steal, or “boost,” items from stores and then sell them at a discount on the street. The Velvet Gang – Corvette (Keke Palmer), Sade (Naomi Ackie), Mariah (Taylour Paige) and sometimes member Stevie (Rachel Walters) – specialize in shoplifting clothing from the Christie brand, often donning eye-popping disguises.

Corvette simultaneously detests and idolizes designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore), a clothing tycoon who is possibly oblivious to the problems her business practices are causing and definitely racist (she is big on dog-whistle slang).

Christie is apparently manufacturing a secret line of $100,000 suits that Corvette aspires to purloin. Then Christie makes a move that incites Corvette’s desire for revenge, even though her friends just want enough money to support their families.

When the Velvet Gang members get undercover jobs at one of Christie’s outlets, fellow employee Violeta (Eiza Gonzalez) is trying to organize a strike. Corvette and her friends don’t see this as their issue.

Then they all cross paths with runaway Chinese factory worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu), who also hopes to inspire her peers to strike via more unorthodox methods.

For added measure, there’s a mysterious man (LaKeith Stanfield) so attractive that Corvette’s vision wavers every time she looks at him.

Palmer is powerful as the fiery, determined Corvette and Moore conveys Christie’s effortless self-justification perfectly. Ackie has strength and clarity as the patient-to-a-point Sade. The supporting cast is excellent.

Riley’s points are more foundational than discussed in I LOVE BOOSTERS. Where SORRY TO BOTHER YOU was partly an investigation of the soul-sucking nature of trying to conform in a dehumanizing system, BOOSTERS assumes we don’t need an argument, we’re all going to wind up on the same side here and just wants to take us on as jaw-dropping a ride as it can. That turns out to be very jaw-dropping indeed, creative and continually surprising and almost always fun.

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