Throughout September I will be raiding my collection of favourite movies to review one a day, with a focus on overlooked and underappreciated films.
Where to find it: Rent on Amazon (sometimes on iPlayer)
Length: 110 minutes
Synopsis: Surreal social comedy about ‘hustle culture’ and labour relations
Recommendation rating: 5/5
What I like about it: radical, hilarious, cool
What I don’t like about it: gets weird
Review:
The Coup frontman and avowed communist Boots Riley makes his directorial debut with this parable of modern life. LaKeith Stanfield plays Oakland telemarketer Cash Green (*smirk*) who finds a secret that improves his job performance and splits his loyalties away from his less-successful friends, who are organising a union. Things come to a head when he ingratiates himself with his Silicon Valley CEO and sees life from his perspective. It’s absurd from early on and gets so surreal at the end that it’s all people tend to remember of the film if they don’t get it, but it’s genius.
Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, body horror