Boots Riley introduces his next fantastical vision of the Bay Area in I Love Boosters teaser

A booster, as the teaser helpfully explains, is a person who steals high-end clothes from a store and sells them for a discount. “It’s like community service,” says the character played by Naomi Ackie. “I call it triple F: fashion forward filanthropy,” says Taylour Paige’s character, before adding, “I know how to spell ‘philanthropy.’ Branding, though.” They, along with Keke Palmer, Eiza González and (maybe) Poppy Liu comprise The Velvet Gang, and they’re stealing from Demi Moore’s stores. LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, and Don Cheadle also star. 

“I’m trying to create a roller coaster ride,” Riley said of his creative process back in 2024 in an interview with The Believer back in 2024.” That’s one place where I disagree with Martin Scorsese’s critique of Marvel movies. He said, Oh, they’re just like amusement parks. Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think you can do that in a good way or in a bad way. I’m trying to take people through this ride, and I’m breaking rules as a way to catch people off guard. I wasn’t like, I want to make it fantastical. It’s just like, This works.” Though Riley didn’t mention Boosters in this interview, based on this first teaser, it seems like some of these principles still apply. We’ll see for ourselves when I Love Boosters opens on May 22.