Boots Riley’s Anti-Capitalist Fashion Caper Was Worth the Wait: I Love Boosters Film Review

Still from I Love Boosters. Photo courtesy of Elevation Pictures.

The first time I ever heard of Boots Riley is when I stumbled upon the album by his hip-hop group The Coup called Pick a Bigger Weapon in 2006. This was a guy who brought leftist politics to his music, a rap album released by indie punk label Epitaph Records. In 2012, The Coup would release their last album, Sorry to Bother You, an album that Boots Riley made after writing a screenplay for a film with the same name that at the time he couldn’t get made, and which signified the direction Riley wanted to take his work. 2018 saw the release of Sorry to Bother You and it became a sensation, and we have been waiting for nearly ten years for a follow-up from Boots Riley.

I Love Boosters is a film bursting with ideas, different filmmaking styles, and like The Coup’s music, leftist politics. Before watching I Love Boosters, if you wonder “Hey what took so long for Boots Riley to make another film???” once you watch the deeply thought-out film, you realize Oh Yeah, That Is Why He Took So Long. Boots Riley is like the James Cameron of leftist political art: it might take many years between projects, but it’s only because he has been deep in the lab cooking something up that is worth your time. 

The premise of I Love Boosters is of a bunch of shoplifters (boosters) who steal the clothes of an uber-rich fashion titan named Christie Smith (played by Demi Moore, who looks to be having the time of her life) for profit. That’s the one line description, but the way the film weaves through other aspects of the world of fast-fashion and liberal do-gooders who say they are for the community but are really for their own pocketbooks (note that Christie Smith is seen in a photo posing with President Barack Obama, brilliant commentary that doesn’t need any further comment) in the guise of a caper/heist film is the magic of Boots Riley. Keke Palmer leads the cast as Corvette, anchoring the film as only a magnetic star like Palmer could, and there’s also great supporting performances from Will Poulter and LaKeith Stanfield (who might steal the movie, playing off the sorts of characters he has played in films like Die My Love but with a more demonic edge).

I Love Boosters is really fun, though exhausting at times, as it has a very high energy pace that tired me out by the end of the film. The score by 2010-music-blog- staples Tune-Yards is an acquired choice (for me? I found it absolutely grating and it certainly played a part in wearing me down with the film). That said, a film that is all about workers rights and bringing these sorts of political ideas to a hypercolour, poppy comedy caper is worth celebrating, so long may Boots Riley run! I hope it doesn’t take another eight years for his next film, but if it does, judging from his track record, it will be worth it.

I Love Boosters is in theatres May 22, 2026.