'Sorry To Bother You' A Review

Sorry To Bother You is a distopian dark comedy set in an alternative-realty Oakland which follows Cash(Lakeith Stanfield) as he gets a job as a telemarketer and climbs the ranks by using his "white voice". As he ascends the corporate ladder his eyes are opened to the twisted lengths some will go for profit.

Stanfield's natural and easy magnetism is underutilized as he is mostly a passive force within a significant amount of narrative craziness. His character has little to no dimension or emotional arc so there isn't much for him to do. Tessa Thompson as Cash's girlfriend Detriot is more convoluted, it seems as if the character is written as a critique of a certain type of cause-conscious woman but Thompson plays against the script to attempt to give the character some kind of relatability and is only mildly successful. Arnie Hammer's mogul Steve Lift is the only really successful performance because it is a full-blow caricature. The cast is stacked with talent but the characters are only place holders, plot pawns rather than people.

The film is full of intriguing concepts, thick satire, and an in-your-face socio-political rage that are all stimulating, there are enough surprises and biting commentary to provoke thought and inspire, but ultimately the film has little actual emotion. It spends so much time on metaphors and ideas there is no real space left for an actual human story. And, unfortunately, without that it lacks the intense impact it attempts. A base hit rather than a homerun.

Ambitious and stylish, more cerebral than resonant.

Rent It.