''Sorry to Bother You'' is a 2018 American
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
black comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...
written and directed by
Boots Riley
Raymond Lawrence "Boots" Riley (born April 1, 1971), is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial ...
, in his directorial debut. It stars
Lakeith Stanfield,
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempes ...
,
Jermaine Fowler
Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as King Akeem Joffer's long-lost son Lavelle Junson in the 2021 romantic comedy film ''Coming 2 America'' and Franco Wicks on the CBS sit ...
,
Omari Hardwick
Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, the protagonist of Starz's ''Power'' and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's ''Army of the Dead'' (2021). He is also kn ...
,
Terry Crews,
Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom '' The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
,
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/ Netflix sitco ...
,
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...
,
Steven Yeun, and
Armie Hammer
Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. Hammer began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'', and ...
. The film follows a young
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
telemarketer who adopts a
white accent to succeed at his job. Swept into a corporate conspiracy, he must choose between profit and joining his activist friends to
organize labor.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
began in June 2017 in Oakland, California. ''Sorry to Bother You'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
on January 20, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 6, 2018, by
Annapurna Pictures
Annapurna Pictures is an independent American media company founded by Megan Ellison in 2011, that specializes in film production, live theatre production, television through its Annapurna Television division, and video game publishing through i ...
through
Mirror Releasing. The film received critical acclaim for its cast, concept, and soundtrack, as well as Riley's screenplay and direction.
Plot
Cassius "Cash" Green lives in his uncle Sergio's garage with his girlfriend, Detroit, an artist. Struggling to pay rent, Cash gets a job as a telemarketer for RegalView. Cash has trouble with customers until Langston, an older co-worker, teaches him to use his "
white voice
White voice ( uk, білий голос, translit=bilyi holos, pl, biały głos) or white singing ( uk, білий спів, translit=bilyi spiv, pl, biały śpiew) is a contemporary name, used usually in Eastern Europe, for the traditional singi ...
" and adopt a blithe, affluent persona on calls, at which Cash excels.
Cash's coworker Squeeze forms a
union and recruits Cash, Detroit, and their friend Sal. When Cash participates in a protest, he expects to be fired but is instead promoted to an elite Power Caller position. In the luxurious Power Caller suite, Cash is told by the lead Power Caller, Mr. _______, to always use his white voice, and learns that RegalView secretly sells military
arms as well as cheap labor from the corporation WorryFree, through which employees sign lifetime contracts to work and be housed in factories, which many condemn as slave labor.
Though Cash is initially uncomfortable with the job, he is celebrated at work, and can now afford a new apartment, a flashy new car, and pays off Sergio's house (in the process keeping him from joining WorryFree). He stops participating in the union push and Detroit quits her RegalView job to avoid conflicting loyalties between the two, while secretly participating in the Left Eye Faction, an anti-WorryFree activist movement. She breaks up with Cash, arguing that his immoral job has changed him, while he insists he has the right to be proud of his success. He later attends Detroit's art exhibit and
artistic performance uninvited, at which she uses a white voice of her own. When Cash is escorted through the union's
picket line one morning, a picketer wounds him with a can of soda. Footage of the incident becomes an
Internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
; the thrower profits off of it herself, even signing a sponsorship with the brand of the soda she threw.
Cash is invited to a party with WorryFree CEO Steve Lift, where he is goaded into rapping for the predominantly white guests. In a private meeting, Lift offers Cash a powdered substance which Cash snorts, believing it is
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
. Looking for the bathroom, Cash discovers shackled half-horse, half-human hybrids who beg him for help. Lift explains that WorryFree plans to make their workers stronger, more obedient, and thus more profitable by transforming them into hybrid "Equisapiens" through snorting a gene-modifying powder. Cash fears that he just ingested the substance, but Lift assures him it was cocaine. Cash refuses an offer of $100 million to become an Equisapien for five years and act as a false revolutionary figure to keep the employees in line.
Cash discovers he dropped his phone when he encountered the Equisapiens, who recorded a plea for help and sent it to Detroit. Taking advantage of his infamy as a meme, Cash appears on the extremely popular television show ''I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me'', enduring humiliations and beatings to share the video, and spreads the word about WorryFree's cruelty. The plan backfires: Equisapiens are hailed as a groundbreaking scientific advancement, a
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
worshipping Lift develops, and WorryFree's
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...
reaches an all-time high.
Cash apologizes to Squeeze, Sal, and Detroit, and rallies the union in a final stand against RegalView. He uses a security code from the Equisapien's video to break into Lift's home. He goes to the picket line, where the police start a riot and detain Cash, but the Equisapiens overpower them and free Cash. Detroit and Cash reconcile and later move back into Sergio's garage. Cash suddenly starts to grow horse nostrils. Later, fully transformed, he leads a mob of Equisapiens to Lift's house and breaks down the door.
Cast
*
Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius "Cash" Green
**
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/ Netflix sitco ...
as Cash's white voice
*
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempes ...
as Detroit, Cash's girlfriend
**
Lily James as Detroit's white voice
*
Jermaine Fowler
Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as King Akeem Joffer's long-lost son Lavelle Junson in the 2021 romantic comedy film ''Coming 2 America'' and Franco Wicks on the CBS sit ...
as Salvador
*
Omari Hardwick
Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, the protagonist of Starz's ''Power'' and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's ''Army of the Dead'' (2021). He is also kn ...
as Mr. _______, the head Power Caller
**
Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom '' The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
as Mr. _______'s white voice
*
Terry Crews as Sergio Green, Cash's uncle
*
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...
as Langston
**Ryan Coursey as Langston's white voice (uncredited)
*
Steven Yeun as "Squeeze", a union organizer
*
Armie Hammer
Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. Hammer began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'', and ...
as Steve Lift, WorryFree CEO
*
Kate Berlant
Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant (born 1987) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Her stand-up comedy and improvisational work are often surrealist and absurdist.
Early life
Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant was born in Los Angeles in 1987 ...
as Diana DeBauchery
*
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
as First Equisapien / Demarius
*
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
as Voice in Power Caller Elevator
Production
Boots Riley describes the film as "an absurdist dark comedy with aspects of
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse
* "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr
* '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
and science fiction inspired by the world of telemarketing". The screenplay for ''Sorry to Bother You'' was inspired by his own time working as a
telemarketer
Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequen ...
and telefundraiser in California and his need to put on a different voice to find success.
Riley finished the screenplay in 2012, and with no means to produce it, recorded
an album of the same title with his band
The Coup
The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned political ...
, inspired by the story. The screenplay was originally published in full as part of ''
McSweeney's
McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco.
Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved t ...
'' issue 48 in 2014.
In June 2017, it was announced that production would go forward on ''Sorry to Bother You'', directed by Riley, and that
Lakeith Stanfield,
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempes ...
and
Steven Yeun had been cast in the film.
Nina Yang Bongiovi
Nina Yang Bongiovi is a BAFTA nominated, Asian American film producer, with extensive experience in creative development, film finance and physical production. In 2009, she partnered with actor Forest Whitaker to create Significant Productions; t ...
and
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
of Significant Productions served as producers, along with Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams, Charles D. King and George Rush. Financing was provided by Significant Productions, MACRO, and
Cinereach
Cinereach is a nonprofit film funding organization in New York, NY, founded in 2006, which provides grants, awards, an annual fellowship, and in-house film production. The organization also has partnerships with other film development organization ...
. The same month,
Armie Hammer
Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. Hammer began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'', and ...
,
Jermaine Fowler
Jermaine Fowler is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as King Akeem Joffer's long-lost son Lavelle Junson in the 2021 romantic comedy film ''Coming 2 America'' and Franco Wicks on the CBS sit ...
,
Omari Hardwick
Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, the protagonist of Starz's ''Power'' and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's ''Army of the Dead'' (2021). He is also kn ...
and
Terry Crews also joined the cast. In July 2017,
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...
,
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/ Netflix sitco ...
and
Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom '' The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
joined the cast, with
Kate Berlant
Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant (born 1987) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Her stand-up comedy and improvisational work are often surrealist and absurdist.
Early life
Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant was born in Los Angeles in 1987 ...
, Robert Longstreet and Michael Sommers added later that month.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
began on June 22, 2017, in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
,
and concluded on July 30, 2017.
It was rumored that
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...
performed Danny Glover's character's "white voice", but Riley said it was actually the film's sound engineer.
Following the premiere at Sundance, producer
Megan Ellison
Margaret Elizabeth Ellison (born January 31, 1986) is an American film producer and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Annapurna Pictures, established in 2011. She produced the films ''Zero Dark Thirty'' (2012), '' Her'' (2013), ''American Hust ...
gave Riley $200,000 for reshoots and an additional scene.
[
]
Music
The film score was composed and performed by Tune-Yards. Riley and The Coup
The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned political ...
recorded an original soundtrack for the film as well, which was released June 13, 2018. The first single, "OYAHYTT", featuring Lakeith Stanfield, was released July 13, 2018.
Themes
Capitalism
Boots Riley has said that the film offers a radical class analysis of capitalism,[ not a specific analysis of the United States under ]President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. He wrote the initial screenplay during Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's administration,[ and the target was never any specific elected official or movement, but "the puppetmasters behind the puppets." While most of the final script remained the same, minimal changes were made to avoid appearing to critique Trump specifically, including removing a line where a character says "Worry Free is making America great again," written before Trump used the line in his 2016 presidential campaign.
]
False consciousness
The film's title has a double meaning, referencing both the phrase's use by telemarketers and its general usage when telling a person something they might not like to hear, such as the film's anti-capitalist message. According to Riley, "when you're telling someone something that is different from how they view things, different from how they view the world, it feels like an annoyance or a bother. And that's where that comes from." The plot of a strike was used to reflect the need to "organize people in the workplace" and for workers to recognize their power.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
on January 20, 2018. Shortly after, Annapurna Pictures
Annapurna Pictures is an independent American media company founded by Megan Ellison in 2011, that specializes in film production, live theatre production, television through its Annapurna Television division, and video game publishing through i ...
acquired distribution rights. It also screened at South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
on March 12, 2018. The film was initially scheduled to be released on June 29, 2018, but was pushed back a week to July 6, 2018, where it began with a limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unit ...
before expanding wider on July 13.
The film had difficulty getting international distribution. On September 18, 2018, Riley announced that Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
and Focus Features
Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in the U ...
had picked up its international distribution rights. It premiered at the 2018 London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
, followed by a UK release on December 7.
''Sorry to Bother You'' was released on digital copy
A digital copy is a commercially distributed computer file containing a media product such as a film or music album. The term contrasts this computer file with the physical copy (typically a DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, or Ultra HD Blu-ray disc) w ...
on October 9, 2018, and on Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
and DVD on October 23.
Reception
Box office
, ''Sorry to Bother You'' has grossed $17.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $792,464 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $18.3 million, against a production budget of $3.2 million.[
The film earned $727,266 from 16 theaters in its limited opening weekend, for an average of $45,452, the fourth-best average of 2018. It finished 16th at the weekend box office.] It had its wide release, in 805 theaters, on July 13, alongside the openings of ''Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
'' and '' Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation'', and was forecast to gross around $3.5 million over the weekend. The film made more on its first day of wide release ($1.5 million) than it had in its full week of limited release ($1.1 million). It went on to gross $4.3 million over the weekend, an increase of 485%, finishing 7th at the box office. The film was added to another 245 theaters in its third week of release and made $2.8 million, finishing 10th.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Fearlessly ambitious, scathingly funny, and thoroughly original, ''Sorry to Bother You'' loudly heralds the arrival of a fresh filmmaking talent in writer-director Boots Riley." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
gave the film an 84% overall positive score and a 72% "definite recommend".
James Berardinelli of ''ReelViews'' said "''Sorry to Bother You'' blends conventional comedy with political satire to produce a film that will generate laughter and a sense of discomfort in equal doses." David Sims of ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' wrote, "The story's heightened reality works best when it's barely distinguishable from our own—though it starts to lose steam the more it drifts into fantasy. The movie is at times a mess, but a compelling one, and this debut from Boots Riley should herald a fascinating filmmaking career." Peter Debruge of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' magazine praised the film, calling it "deliriously creative and ambitious to a fault", but expressed reservations about its second half: "As the movie's allegorical relation to real-world problems blurs, audiences are left to wonder what Riley's point is supposed to be." Jesse Hassenger of '' The A.V. Club'' described the film as "often wildly funny, and if its broad arc is familiar stuff about a down-on-his-luck everyman experiencing success but at what cost, at least the plot specifics are unpredictable". Randall Colburn of ''Consequence of Sound'' called it "a mess, but a glorious one" and said it "is fun until it's overwhelming, and Riley would likely have benefited from a good editor."
A.A. Dowd of ''The A.V. Club'' reviewed the film at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
and dissented from his peers, calling it "a scattershot, intermittently pointed satire whose jokes and insights land with about the same (in)frequency." Dowd was critical of the writing and direction: "There's a messy, first-draft quality to how the film fits said ideas together, and a general sloppiness to the execution, with Riley botching the timing on too many jokes ... ''Sorry To Bother You'' is plainly a first feature, and that's no insult: Even as some of the film's comedy fell flat for me, I distantly admired its something-to-prove chutzpah."
Accolades
See also
* List of black films of the 2010s
The following is a list of black films that were released in the 2010s. Black films listed here are generally associated with the peoples from the African diaspora; the cinema of Africa is distinct from this topic (see list of African films). Law ...
*
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
2010s English-language films
2018 black comedy films
2018 comedy films
2018 directorial debut films
2018 films
African-American films
American black comedy films
American satirical films
Annapurna Pictures films
2018 independent films
American independent films
Films about the working class
Films set in Oakland, California
Films shot in California
Films with screenplays by Boots Riley
2010s American films
Surrealist films
Surreal comedy films