'Sorry to Bother You' Is the Most Absurd Film of the Year

It’s hard to give Sorry to Bother You a synopsis that will give it justice without spoiling some plot details that would have been more preferable to be discovered for the first time while watching the movie for the first time.  In other words, it’s the kind of movie that is worth going into blind.

Nevertheless, here’s my attempt of a synopsis without giving too much away: Cassius “Cash” Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is a broke young man who lives in his uncle’s garage.  He works as a telemarketer, but is having a hard time making a sale.  After receiving an unusual tip on how he can be more appealing to prospective customers, which he then applies to his work, he begins to become more and more successful.  However, just when he’s about to earn big bucks, his friends and co-workers decide to stage a strike – putting him in a bind.

Now, my synopsis might have painted this movie as derivative. But it’s not.  Far from it.  It’s definitely one of the most creative films of 2018.  And it has made itself is so by being the most absurd film of 2018.

Indeed, this film is full of wacky stuff that will leave people scratching their heads.  Crazy moments happen that either come from attempts of stylish storytelling or simply due to the straight-up weirdness inherent in its plot.  As a result of this, the narrative becomes effectively subversive, engrossing, and humorous.

Most of its humor is the dark comedy kind, but it also has outright chill jokes as well as “wink wink nudge nudge” references.  The most noteworthy of the latter is Danny Glover’s character saying, “I’m too old for that sh*t.”

Moreover, this movie gets political.  It has a message to tell.  Several, actually.  And I don’t necessarily agree with many of them, if they are meant to be read in the straightest sense.  For example, it lightly touches upon “white privilege”, and it’s seemingly intending to demonize capitalism and to justify Antifa tactics.  Or these were not really the intention, and I just read into it incorrectly.  Aside from this, it also explores other socially relevant but apolitical themes, like the ludicrousness and repulsiveness of the “going viral” culture that thrives in the humiliation or pain of others.

Nevertheless, regardless of what messages it wants to convey, this movie isn’t obnoxious in this manner at all.  It doesn’t forget that it’s a movie – meaning, that it should entertain above all, not preach.  It avoids being heavy-handed and on-the-nose.  Moreover, rather than get annoyed, I had fun with its supposed commentary because the satirical execution is actually good – similar to my experience with Solo: A Star Wars Story’s SJW droid.

In the end, as a film, Sorry to Bother You is interesting, funny, well-crafted, and – most notably – refreshingly bizarre.  Definitely worth a watch.