Just when you think you know where writer-director Boots Riley is taking us in “I Love Boosters,” he throws in an extra twist … or two … or three. This surreal, anticapitalist crime comedy begins at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Friday, July 3.
In a dark nightclub in the Bay Area, Corvette (Keke Palmer) has something to sell. Sidling up to a handsome young man, she suggests he come back to her place. We might think we know what she’s up to, but when Corvette opens the door, the man is sorely disappointed to find the apartment jammed to the rafters with all sorts of high fashion. Corvette is determined to make a sale at a third of the retail price.
It turns out Corvette is part of a small group of boosters, “the Velvet Gang.” She and her two best friends, Sade (Naomi Ackie) and Mariah (Taylour Paige), boost (shoplift) to sell the goods at a discount, which they call “fashion-forward philanthropy.”
We soon see the ladies at work when Corvette and Mariah go to a Metro Designers store, a mega high-fashion chain owned by the giant cutthroat designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore). The friends are dressed wildly and walk through the racks, stuffing mod fashions into their outrageous clothing. Smith goes ballistic at the gang’s continued success.
In a scene at an abandoned fast-food restaurant, where the ladies squat, we learn that Corvette aspires to be a fashion designer. In a bizarre caper, she meets Smith, who spouts absurd, nonsensical theories about her fashion design. Smith, though, not only admires Corvette’s outfit but also steals the design, which shows up in her stores, from which the Velvet Gang go boosting.
The twisting plot uses sci-fi elements to connect the Velvet Gang’s heists to a rebellion by the sweatshop workers in China who make Smith’s clothing. One of the factory employees, Jianhu (Poppy Liu), connects with the boosters, introducing an advanced teleportation device capable of deconstructing and accelerating matter, leading to a madcap adventure with larger implications to take down Smith’s empire.
The film and its title were inspired by a track Riley wrote 20 years ago with his hip-hop group the Coup. Ultimately, “I Love Boosters” is a raucous capitalist critique. Riley says in an interview on the “Breakfast Club” podcast, “[Capital] is what moves the needle. And the working class can have a say over what happens with that capital. We can have a movement where we can control the capital collectively.” Asked about his aim for the film, Riley says he wants to make a visceral impact that lingers after the movie ends.
“I Love Boosters” screens at the M.V. Film Center starting on July 3. For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.
