“… gave up a solid story for just one more poke at society.”

When I first heard that Jordan Peele was writing a horror movie with Get Out, this is what I had imagined it would be. It feels wrong for me to even say anything about Sorry to Bother You becasue it is most definitely a movie that needs to be experienced, but I do have a lot on my mind that I need to release into the world. I will however forego a plot synopsis and say this: if you have any interest at all in seeing this movie, go and do it. I don’t care how you do it, just don’t read anything else about it. Just watch it.

The first thing I have to say about Sorry to Bother You is that it is impressive. Not only did the movie consistently surprise me with the hordes of celebrities that made appearances, but I was also in awe of just how beautifully stylized everything was. It felt like Sorry to Bother You was a live-action cartoon at times with the inventive ways of shooting or the zany scenarios. It was kind of strange how simultaneously grounded and ‘out there’ Sorry to Bother You was. I was consistently impressed by the creative ways of conveying even simple things like talking on the phone. It felt like Sorry to Bother You never said no. Any idea that was thrown out was embraced and implemented, and it worked beautifully. And to top it all off, Sorry to Bother You was really funny. Sometimes it was hard to tell if you were supposed to be laughing, but looking back I can honestly say that it might be the funniest movie of the year. There are very few moments for you to catch your breath before another hilarious jab comes along. The writing in this movie is so tight, so calculated that there isn’t a single moment wasted at least in terms of comedy.

Now in terms of the story in the movie, Sorry to Bother You was a satire. What did it satirize? Everything. This stylized world that Sorry to Bother You created didn’t stop at the visuals. Every single thing in this movie was poking fun at a real-life counterpart. Society’s infatuation with watching people humiliate themselves, the attachment to internet memes over a short period of time, the willful ignorance when it comes to pressing issues the world faces; all bets were off in this movie. But that was kind of a problem for me. I’m all for the world taking a few licks here and there, but Sorry to Bother You kind of got carried away. Every new thing that would come up felt like it deserved its moment to shine, and Sorry to Bother You didn’t refuse that opportunity. This is why I can’t really tell you what the movie is about, because I don’t even know. The movie that Sorry to Bother You started off as is not the same one when the credits started to roll. It felt like Sorry to Bother You gave up a solid story for just one more poke at society. And it was this feeling that kind of spoiled the movie for me. Towards the end of Sorry to Bother You things just kind of got lost. That’s what makes this review difficult for me to write. I loved Sorry to Bother You, but then it just kept going. I gave this movie an inch and it fucking ran laps around me.

Overall Sorry to Bother You is a movie that is simultaneously brilliant and terrible. It is a solid satire through and through, but it kind of bites off more than it can chew. Either way I think its worth a watch.

I give Sorry to Bother You a B