I Love Boosters by Boots Riley (2026)

Watched by Charlotte Blyth

As a surprise to absolutely nobody, the resident lesbian reviewer of The Fleapit is also the resident communist reviewer of The Fleapit, and so I couldn’t help but thrust my sickle into the air with glee when Boss Flea asked if I would like to attend the media screening of I Love Boosters with him.

Two things you should know about me is that I love magical realism and I also really enjoy wearing hats, making a guy that regularly wears hats like this…

…and makes movies like I Love Boosters an easy pick for one of my favourite directors of all time. But this review is definitely not biased, I promise.

Going into my screening of I Love Boosters, I was already well acquainted with the world of Boots Riley because, yes I have watched Sorry to Bother You four times and no, I will not be taking questions at this time. Whilst it isn’t necessary to watch Riley’s first film quite as many times as I have, I would strongly urge anyone unfamiliar with the mastery of Riley to give Sorry to Bother You a watch before tackling I Love Boosters. The reason why I suggest this is actually why I feel that I Love Boosters is such a strong follow up. Boots did not come to play. He’s under the impression that if you have bought a ticket to see his work, you know what you are in for and therefore, doesn’t waste time teaching you how to watch a Boots Riley film. Instead, from the moment the film begins you are immediately transported into a world of colour and magic, and spend the rest of the viewing experience running, trying to keep up. My qualm with Sorry to Bother you is that it spends too long spoon-feeding me the kind of world the film is operating in, but in his second feature, Boots takes our training wheels off and hopes that we can keep riding the bike.

The film follows Keke Palmer and her posse (all of whom sport micro bangs at some point in the film) as they shoplift or ‘boost’ clothes from high end retailers and sell them at a heavily discounted price to their community, until this elaborate scheme gets out of hand. Everything about I Love Boosters is so singular, so unwaveringly unique. In an industry slowly overrun with a shadow of recycled IP and a 17th reboot of Pride and Prejudice when the one with Keira Knightly was already exceptional, I hope we keep giving Boots money and final cut. I hope we give him lots of money, because he certainly knows what to do with it.

Not only is his directorial prowess emphasised in big ticket actress Keke Palmer's dazzling performance, I Love Boosters is truly a visual spectacle. Boots communicates an incredibly detailed message about the class divide simply through colour, by making each designer store in the world only sell clothing in one color. If you wish to buy clothes in another color, you have to travel to another neighbourhood, and only the expensive items are only sold in certain neighbourhoods. This clever visual motif expertly explains how fashion becomes a statement of wealth, or lack thereof, hence why when boosters are disrupting this divide and making all clothes accessible to everyone, the upper class designer Christie Smith (an incredible performance from Demi Moore) is furious. Her clothes only hold value when worn by the right group of people. 

Boots also makes the incredible choice to depict so many of the detailed stunt scenes through meticulous miniatures. Whilst you can tell when Boots is using miniatures, it really only adds to the viewing experience because you can see the fingerprints of real artists working at the peak of their game to contribute to bringing an image to life. When I think too much about the state of the film industry, it makes me want to drop out of film school and do something actually useful with my life. But then I watch a film like I Love Boosters and I remember how beautiful this artform can be when it's utilised by true artisans with something to say.

Although I have tried to be intentionally vague about the contents of the film because I fear that if I say too much, I will water down the novelty of the film, I must admit that my heart which bleeds communist red was very satisfied with what Boots had to say. I know it’s not just me that wonders what will kill us all first, a descent into fascism or climate change, and it’s hard to remain hopeful and motivated to participate in grassroots action when it feels like there is no point. Boots reminds us that death may be postponed if we actually get out and do something. So many of the most important filmmakers of all time were openly communist making wacky films (I’m looking at you Godard), and whilst I’m not saying Riley is the next Godard, it's reassuring to know that politics and film are in conversation once again, as they always should be.

So comrades, let us watch I Love Boosters and let it push us onto the streets.

I Love Boosters is in most cinemas now.

Pick of the Week
I know I said it last week, but I'll say it again! Go see You Can See Everything as early as possible! This is, perhaps, the film of the year and I need to be able to talk about it with everyone!

New Releases - THURSDAY 12 November

• I Love Boosters (Boots Riley)
• You Can See Everything (Lance Oppenheim, Nathan Fielder)
• Fatherland (Pawel Pawlikowski)
• Yellow Letters (Ilker Çatak)
• How To Rob A Bank (David Leitch)