Entertainment

You Need To Watch The 'Sorry To Bother You' Trailer, Because It Will Totally Blow Your Mind

by Tolly Wright

The act of "selling out" has never seemed so trippy, or utterly bonkers, as it does in the trailer for the film Sorry to Bother You. The debut movie from writer-director Boots Riley received all sorts of buzz after its Sundance premiere earlier this year — with it easily winning the unofficial prize of most surprising movie this year. It's outlandish dreamscape and socially-relevant plot makes it a wild ride you'll definitely want to check out.

Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta, Get Out) plays Cassius, a telemarketer who realizes that the secret to making sales is by using a White-sounding voice (voiced here by White comedian David Cross) in an alternative timeline of present day Oakland, California. Once he proves himself to be a successful sales rep over the telephone, however, he is given the opportunity to become a "Power Caller." While the trailer doesn't reveal what someone in this position sells, it's certainly implies that it involves something that's all sorts of bizarre. Though Cassius's girlfriend Detroit, played by Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok, Dear White People), tries to talk him out of the job, a wacky, power suit-wearing Armie Hammer certainly has quite the offer for him.

Oh, also, did I mention that every time he makes one of these phone calls he seems to be transported into the home of the potential customer? You need to see this trailer for yourself.

The Boots Riley screenplay was previously published in 2014 in McSweeney's Issue No. 48. In addition to the aforementioned actors, it also stars Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead), Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), and Omari Hardwick (Power) sporting a eye patch and handlebar mustache whose "white voice" is dubbed by none other than Patton Oswalt (Young Adult).

While the trailer might get you scratching your head, Oswalt promises the full movie is even more intense. "Trailer for #SorryToBotherYou is here!" the comedian tweeted on Sunday, March 11. "Finished watching it an hour ago. It is...even CRAZIER than this ... If GET OUT was race through the prism of THE STEPFORD WIVES, then this is race through the prism of DR. STRANGELOVE. Good God."

His sentiment was echoed by others who got the chance to see the movie at Sundance. A few such lucky people tweeted out about their experience watching what very well could become an instant cult-comedy.

Celebrities could also not contain their excitement.

Hammer used the reveal of the posters for the film to tease his part on Instagram, "Go see Sorry To Bother You in theaters this summer if you want to see me bash a two foot line. In a sarong. And riding boots."

Though the movie certainly appears to be a wil ride, it is also a satire. It's commentary on the current wage gap between black and white workers that exists in America, according to The Washington Post, and the lengths a person might go to shed their identity for success (in the case of Cassius giving up his actual voice), is certainly relevant in today's society. Just as how Jordan Peel's Oscar-winning film Get Out used the horror genre to comment on racism and the black experience in America, this film uses fantasy and surreal, absurd humor to make its points about today's society.

Though don't expect it to linger on any one subject for too long — Sorry to Bother You been described by Vulture as something of a fever dream that bounces from one out-there moment to another. From spoilers found on Vulture and on Twitter it appears that it even includes some mythical animals and other inexplicable elements.

The movie is scheduled to hit theaters on July 6. In the meanwhile watch the trailer a few more times — there's bound to be a few visual elements you didn't pick up on in the first watch.