San Francisco Frontiers - Director Boots Riley says new film 'I Love Boosters' is an 'optimistic' satire

"I Love Boosters" follows a ragtag group of women who steal clothes from designer retailers and resell them on the cheap -- but what begins as a means to an end escalates into an all-out class war.

The neon-colored comedy stars an ensemble cast featuring Keke Palmer, Demi Moore, LaKeith Stanfield, Naomi Ackie and Eiza Gonzalez, among others.

Riley, the writer-director behind 2018's "Sorry to Bother You," said he revisited the absurdist aesthetic of his first film because he found it helped convey his message.

"I want the audience to feel what that character is going through," Riley told a Los Angeles press conference promoting the film. "And that doesn't just come through the absurdist concepts that come within the frame, but it goes to the rhythm."

To help bring his vision to life, Riley enlisted costume designer Shirley Kurata, the Oscar-nominated stylist behind the equally surreal "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

"What all I'm doing is weirdly, even though this is more fantastical, it's more real in that sense," Riley said.

"It's talking about what is actually happening in the world and what the conflicts are."

But Riley stressed the film is not a downer portrayal of the struggle between social classes.

"It's also optimistic. It's saying that there is a way to change things. There is a way for us to struggle collectively," he said.

Ackie, who stars as "Sade" in the film, said the key element in "I Love Boosters" is the power of human connection.

"When we think about how we can change the world, make it a better place, the ideas are very big -- like overturn the system, burn it all down," the British actress said.

"That feels valid, but it starts small, and it starts by daily actions, and this idea of sisterhood felt like a really strong theme in this film."

N.Wilson--SFF