Boots Riley makes his triumphant return to the big screen with a bigger budget and a bigger cast to break down the fashion industrial complex in the most surreal way possible.
I Love Boosters (2026) ★★★★ 1/2 (4.5 stars) out of 5 stars ★★★★★
Much like his directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, this film has way more going on than the pitch you’ll hear before seeing it. On the surface, it’s about a group of young women giving high-end fashion the middle finger by stealing and reselling one designer’s clothes at affordable prices to minorities. A Robin Hood of fashion, you could say. But the film takes a sci-fi twist to show how the fundamental issues of the fashion industry run much deeper than American economic inequality.
Each scene has so much going on that it practically encourages multiple rewatches. Though that can occasionally work to its detriment on an initial viewing, it leaves you with plenty of mental leftovers to chew on days afterward.
What I love about Boots Riley is that he pushes the boundaries of what you can do in a movie. In the age of AI, it’s refreshing to watch a film that uses so many handmade, creative methods of storytelling blended together into one experience. There’s a chase sequence so over the top that I was genuinely in awe of all the work that must have gone into creating it with practical sets and props. The spirit of his filmmaking feels like the visual whimsy of Michel Gondry mixed with the political commentary of a Spike Lee film while trapped inside The Twilight Zone.
I frequently hear the internet moan and groan that everything playing in theaters is either a remake or a sequel, but somehow people don’t show up when a film like this comes along. If you have an open mind and you’re looking for something truly unique that actually has something to say, this is that movie.