50 Years of SIFF: Sorry to Bother You
Now Playing - May 5, 2024
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed. MEGAN LEONARD CHOICE.
Seattle International Film Festival 2018 selection.
Tickets
Select showtime for pricing and tickets.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
"I said back in 2018 and I'll say it again. 100% bonkers. Boots Riley's balls-to-the-wall, drug-fueled, dystopian black comedy never lets you catch your breath as it plunges you into a surrealist nightmare. Have never looked at a horse the same since. Giddy-up!"—Megan Leonard, SIFF Programmer
Musician Boots Riley’s debut feature film is an off-the-wall, neon, drug-fueled, dystopian black comedy that doesn’t slow down for a moment for you to catch your breath. Lakeith Stanfield (“Atlanta,” Short Term 12) leads us on this journey as Cassius Green, a down-on-his-luck guy looking for any job that can help lift him out of his situation. When he jumps on an opening at a telemarketing company, he quickly learns that he’ll improve his sales by utilizing his “white voice,” voiced perfectly by David Cross (“Arrested Development,” “Mr. Show”), and proceeds to become a power caller. But what is he even selling? Cassius receives support from Detroit (Tessa Thompson, Selma, Dear White People), Cassius’s activist/artist girlfriend who wears her feelings on her earrings, at least until she learns what Cassius has had to sell to earn the money for their new lifestyle. As Cassius continues his meteoric rise, he catches the eye of the company’s obnoxious cocaine-snorting CEO, played by the normally charming Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name), and things quickly spiral towards an unimaginable end. Riley puts his stamp on the film with surrealist fanaticism and an unforgettable soundtrack from his own band The Coup to create a cinematic experience you won’t soon forget.
- Director: Boots Riley
- Principal Cast: Annapurna Pictures
- Country: USA
- Year: 2018
- Running Time: 112 min.
- Producer: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forrest Whitaker, Charles King, George Rush, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams
- Screenplay: Boots Riley
- Cinematographers: Doug Emmett
- Editors: Terel Gibson
- Production Designer: Tune-Yards, The Coup
- Music: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, Armie Hammer, Omari Hardwick, David Cross, Danny Glover
- Awards: Debut Feature Film
- Filmography: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and Steven Yuen star in the exhilarating directorial debut of musician Boots Riley, a biting and bonkers satire that follows a black telemarketer who discovers an unknown skill which gives him magical selling powers that shoot him up the corporate ladder.
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Endeavor Content
- International Sales: http://annapurna.pictures/films/sorry-to-bother-you