In 2018, Boots Riley made a splash at the BFI London Film Festival with his feature directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You. After creating and directing the Amazon MGM series I’m a Virgo, Riley returns with his much-anticipated second feature film. Despite a lengthy five-month delay from its US release, I Love Boosters is finally hitting UK screens.
The comedy follows ‘The Velvet Gang’, comprising aspiring fashion designer Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige), and Sade (Naomi Ackie), who routinely shoplift high-end clothing from Metro Designers, a chain owned by designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore). When Corvette discovers Smith has stolen one of her designs, the gang turn their attention to more than just revenge against the designer.
Initially resembling a Robin Hood-style operation for designer clothing, the Velvet Gang steals expensive clothes to sell them at a discount. Corvette is the brains of the outfit, strategising heists with a calm head. But her Achilles’ heel is Smith: a scientific prodigy-turned-designer with airs of grandeur. Both Palmer and Moore are standout performers in this ensemble piece; the former exudes a gentle determination to screw over the woman she admired while Moore’s delivery of Smith’s pretentious rhetoric is both condescending and hilarious. They play two distinct characters with contradictory personalities: Corvette envies Smith for achieving her dream of becoming a notable fashion name, yet despises her for making fashion inaccessible. Smith uses barely concealed pretentiousness to excuse her outlandish art direction, while riding on the coattails of others—and the press, particularly that generated by the Velvet Gang—to boost her label’s profile. At the end of the day, she is just a thief, like the gang she loathes. Ultimately, their capacity for empathy is what separates them, positioning Corvette and Smith as the film’s moral counterpoints.
But beneath the gang’s philanthropic mission lies Riley’s sharp critique of racial and economic inequality. At first, it surfaces in a subplot involving Sade’s persistence with an obvious pyramid scheme that only profits the powerful. Metro Designers stores are filled with expensive clothes in the same colour so everyone looks the same, yet its employees are subject to docked pay for ‘mandatory’ outfits and 30-second breaks. Yet these instances are merely the tip of the iceberg, as factory worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) crosses their path and reveals Metro Designer’s real working conditions, adding depth to the gang’s materialistic goal. Jianhu’s experiences give new meaning to being a slave to high-end fashion, exposing the disparity within an industry that pits its powerful white figures—including Smith and the insufferable store manager Grayson (a hysterical Will Poulter)—against a predominantly people-of-colour workforce demanding better conditions. Yet the commentary can easily get lost amid Riley’s chaotic direction, requiring audiences to look beyond the surface to uncover the layers within his narrative.
Similar to Riley’s debut, I Love Boosters is distinct in its absurdism and creative choices. Brightly coloured outfits dominate the costume design. The infectiously catchy soundtrack is packed with earworms. The screenplay is sharp and witty. The supporting characters (notably LaKeith Stanfield’s charismatically mysterious Pinky Ring Guy and Eiza González’s unlikely genius Violeta) are weird yet memorable. Such bold approaches are an assault on the senses yet this mismatch of elements creates a crowd-pleaser that feels distinctly its own.
Absurd, unhinged and hilarious, I Love Boosters is 2026’s most unexpected heist comedy. Riley’s latest is a colourful triumph, but Palmer and Moore ultimately steal the show.
I Love Boosters is shown as part of the BFI London Festival 2026.
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Director: Boots Riley
Stars: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, LaKeith Stanfield, Eisa González, Poppy Liu
Runtime: 113 minutes
Country: USA
