(https://i.imgur.com/P533GtV.png)
Studio: DECAL - NEON
Release Date: 9/22/2026
Rating: R
Film Grade: D
The Story: Corvette has grand dreams of becoming a fashion designer. In the meantime, she teams up with Sade, Mariah, and a few others to form the Velvet Gang. The group shoplifts from a series of high-end stores, known as the Metro Fashion Designers and then resells them for a third of their retail price. That doesn’t pay all of the bills, so Corvette still has to resort to squatting in an abandoned chicken restaurant.
The subsequent losses have caught the attention of Christie Smith, the brilliant scientist turned designer, who’s frustrated by the gang cutting into her profit margin. But the Velvet Gang isn’t her only concern as there’s another thief about to enter the game, with a completely different motivation.
My Take: Ignorant of the alternate meaning of the term booster, I expected this to be a biting satire about the vaccine mandates we all lived through at the start of this decade. Anyone else remember the fanatical movements on both sides? From Stephen Colbert’s cringy Vax-Scene skit or the wild conspiracy theories about injected nanobots, there’s a plethora of viewpoints ripe for skewering.
Well, that’s not what this movie is. Writer/producer/director Boots Riley expands on his 2006 song of the same name as the inspiration for this film. The result is an intentionally pointed political commentary encouraging workers of the world to unite against the ultrapowerful corporations that take unfair advantage of their workers.
Strangely disparate themes and narrative threads are haphazardly mixed into the story, ranging from pyramid schemes to corporate espionage to media conspiracies and many others. All of this might have been handled in an entertaining way, but the continual lack of focus never allows the movie to gel into a cohesive vision.
Also harming the narrative are the stark tonal shifts. There are a few lightly humorous gags at the start of the movie, such as a discussion about shoe sizes that turns a well-worn double entendre on its head, the absurdist visual of the bloated boosters as they waddle out of a store, overstuffed with stolen goods, and a massage chair that’s a little too handsy. Those are coupled with surprisingly crude and sophomoric humor that feels like it belongs in an entirely different genre. Then there’s the pseudo-philosophical shift to the word salad used to explain one of the fantastical elements of the story. Throwing all of that together serves as a distraction from the simplistic central thesis of the movie rather than aiding it or adding some fun.
The cast does an adequate job of portraying their characters but are limited by the script’s lack of depth. Keke Plamer gives Corvette a mixture of righteousness tinged with a lack of confidence, haunted by delusions of literal crushing debt. Taylour Paige and Naomi Ackie are relegated to secondary parts and do little more than support the convoluted plot. Demi Moore plays Christie Smith as a cartoonishly ruthless businesswoman with underdeveloped motivations. None of these characters show growth in the movie. One has a shot at both redemption and legitimately benefiting the world, but tosses it aside for the shallowest of reasons, just to toss in a defiantly snarky comment simply meant to elicit laughs.
Visuals: Like the muddled plot, the visuals are mixed bag. While the colors of the fashions and playful graphics stand out, there are surprisingly soft and drab sequences, likely due to the specific lenses that were paired with the digital cameras. The overall aesthetic is almost cartoonish, and in stark contrast to both the movie’s serious themes and general crudeness. Perhaps it’s intentional, but the obvious use of practical miniatures and rough stop motion animation that were used for the most absurd scenes stand apart from the rest of the movie, further detaching viewers from the film. Comparing it to the included Blu-ray, colors are a bit more dynamic and there appears to be some sharpening applied to the BD that’s absent from the 4K. This is a passable presentation but not demo worthy.
Audio: Both discs come with a simple 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix. There’s not much noteworthy here with the presentation relying on the front speakers for most of the work. There’s an instance of playing with those three with a split screen scene, and a few instances of panning to the surrounds including a circling helicopter, but the extra speakers aren’t overly used. Subs get almost all of their work from music, starting with an early nightclub scene. There were missed opportunities for extra punch during a chase scene and some gunshots. I had occasional issues understanding some of the dialog, but that can be attributed to enunciation and overpowering music rather than anything technical.
The peppy and irreverent score is provided by Tune-Yards and feels vaguely reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s early soundtracks, with a prancing beat that almost feel circus-like. A number of atypical instruments are used, accompanied by some punchy vocals. Unlike Elfman’s work, it feels limited, repetitive, and fatiguing by the end of the movie. An assortment of other songs is tossed in for additional flavor.
Special Features: The documentary spells out the political motivation behind the movie for any viewers that may have somehow missed it. There’s some revealing behind the scenes segments showing the makeup and special effects work. It’s also clear that the people behind the movie had a fun time making it. I didn’t listen to the commentary or all of the interview tracks, so curious viewers will need to sample those on their own.
- Audio commentary with Boots Riley
- Never before seen cast interviews
- "The Making of I LOVE BOOSTERS" documentary program
- Blooper reel
Final Verdict: This is a film meant to appeal and influence a growing segment of the nation’s current political environment. There are clear similarities to the counter cultural movement of the 60s and 70s, which were exemplified by things such as Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book. As a result, it left me completely cold and unengaged. There’s not enough humor to consider it a comedy, the disjointed story jumps around too much to feel cohesive, and the characters were unsympathetic underdeveloped slaves to the plot. The 113-minute runtime feels much longer as the story drags under its own convoluted weightiness.
I’ll give credit to Riley for bringing his vision to the screen without compromise. Check out the trailer for a taste of what the movie looks and feels like, as it doesn’t give away any of the way-out elements. Those who identify with the political themes are likely to find this to be much more engaging, but I’d recommend watching it before buying it. Unlike the movie’s central theme, I don’t advocate boosting it.
Director’s Conceit: "That being said, I think that this is a film that has a place in this trajectory of, of history."
https://youtu.be/I1xZegSgN8w
This review was written by a human without the use of AI.
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup