Sorry To Bother You

In an Oakland, California where rent is rising, wages are falling, and jobs are scarce, to say Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is struggling would be a major understatement.

A 20-something year old African American who is stuck living in his uncle’s garage with his artist-activist girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson), he’s so close to hitting rock bottom that he can almost feel the bruises.

When Cassius gets offered a miserable telemarketing job, he has no choice but to take it. So begins monotonous days of having the phone slammed down by annoyed people who don’t want him invading their lives.

And then his co-worker gives him a tip that changes everything.

“Use your white voice.”

In a desperate attempt to get results, Cassius adopts a new tone for when he’s speaking to customers, posing as a bright, helpful, and undeniably white sales agent. It works – and the bosses start to take notice.

He quickly climbs the ladder, watching his salary climb alongside. But by taking on his new ‘voice’, he begins to lose his old one. With every corporate success, Cassius drifts further from the social rights he and Detroit have been fighting for.

A quick succession of promotions sends Cassius into the office of the CEO (Armie Hammer), who makes him an offer that’s almost too good to be true – but accepting it means dismissing everything he thought he believed in.

An inventive dark comedy, Sorry to Bother You marks the directorial debut of famed musician Boots Riley, exploring issues surrounding race, capitalism, and politics in modern America. It features a standout cast, including Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out), Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok), Armie Hammer (Call Me by Your Name), and David Cross (Arrested Development) as Cassius’s ‘white voice’.