Here we are, back at it again with a new Letterboxd List review. I am excited about this one. This week we have a movie that always seemed to evade me on streaming…until now. From the Black Directors: The Official Top 100 Narrative Feature Films featured Letterboxd list we have number 86 (as of this writing)…Sorry to Bother You (2018).
Title: Sorry to Bother You
Director: Boots Riley
Released: January 20, 2018 (Sundance Film Festival)
Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes
Available to stream on: Hulu
Cassius Green (LaKeith Stanfield) could use a break. He’s struggling to make rent, his car is one minor incident away from being a lawn ornament, and he can’t find reliable income. Despite his troubles, his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), sticks by his side and supports him.
Fresh out of ideas, Cassius decides to take a job with a telemarketing firm performing cold calls. Any income is better than no income, right?
Seeing that Cassius seems to be struggling, a senior employee by the name of Langston (Danny Glover) offers up some advice. As long as Cassius uses his “white voice” on the phones, the sales will come in. Skeptical of this advice, Cassius tries the same pitch but in “white voice” and sure enough, he starts closing deals. All it took was abandoning his identity.
His managers take notice of his recent success and soon Cassius is considered a “power seller”, the cream of the crop. However, at the same time, his fellow co-workers are tired of the working conditions and begin to organize a union to demand better treatment.
Torn between his colleagues, of which include Detroit, and his new promotion, Cassius faces a tough decision. Does he cross the picket line in order to continue to make more money than he ever has? Or does he stand firm with his peers and demand better pay and working conditions?
If only that was the toughest decision he’d have to make…
Up until about the halfway point of Sorry to Bother You (2018), I thought I had a handle on where things were going. Boy was I wrong.
If nothing else, Boots Riley gets credit for being incredibly creative. Whether it is showing us how time has passed or how the conversations unfold between characters, it’s all done in a bold nontraditional way, and more often than not, it works. However, the pacing is wildly inconsistent which makes the whole thing feel a bit unbalanced.
That being said, the performances on display help to mostly off-set any pacing issues. Stanfield is fantastic as always. There’s something about him that just commands your attention when he’s on screen. Steven Yeun is effective in his role as a union organizer. Having Armie Hammer represent the absolute worst things about capitalism is especially poignant and darkly funny through 2025 eyes. Tessa Thompson deserved better in the role of Detroit. She isn’t ever given anything more than “supportive girlfriend” cliché plot points.
I know I mentioned the plot twist, but I don’t want to delve into that too much. Mainly because, if you have yet to see Sorry to Bother You (2018), it’s best to go into it knowing as little as possible.
And if you have seen it, well, watch it again to see how it holds up on a rewatch. I’ll be doing the same.
Whether you’ve seen it one time or a dozen times, what are your thoughts on Sorry to Bother You (2018)?
Tell me all about it in the comments below or over on Bluesky!
Curious as to what else I’ve been watching? Give me a follow over on Letterboxd to see for yourself!