I Love Boosters (2026)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A group of shoplifters and a factory worker team up to use high-tech teleporters to fight against a predatory fashion empire.
The story
In the San Francisco Bay Area, a group of shoplifters known as the "Velvet Gang" routinely steal clothes from the Metro Designers fashion chain to sell at a discount. The gang's dynamic is disrupted when they encounter Jianhu, a worker from a Chinese factory who has acquired teleporter devices to bypass shipping costs and protest poor working conditions. When the gang discovers that the technology has unique properties—including the ability to deconstruct items into their base elements—they decide to join forces with Jianhu. Together, they must navigate the high-stakes world of high fashion and corporate greed to challenge the powerful designer Christie Smith.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the 'Velvet Gang' (Corvette, Mariah, and Sade) shoplift from Metro Designers to survive. Corvette, an aspiring designer, encounters the brand's owner, Christie Smith, and later meets a mysterious man with a pinky ring. The gang's plans are interrupted by Jianhu, a factory worker who uses stolen teleporters to move goods to China. They team up after discovering the teleporters have 'situational accelerator' and 'deconstruction' settings. Using these, they infiltrate a fashion show and discover that the '100,000 suits' are actually skin suits worn by media figures for propaganda. After a tense escape, the gang uses the 'situational accelerator' to turn local protests into a global strike. The film ends with the gang opening a community center, Jianhu's mother's health being restored by the deconstruction process, and the man with the pinky ring—a self-admitted demon—being rejected by Corvette.
- First release year
- 2026
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Boots Riley
- Writers
- Boots Riley · writer
- Cast and characters
- Keke Palmer; Naomi Ackie; Taylour Paige; Poppy Liu; Eiza González; LaKeith Stanfield; Will Poulter; Don Cheadle; Demi Moore
- Genres
- absurdist; crime comedy; adventure; buddy comedy; science fiction comedy
- Themes
- labor movement; capitalism; fashion
- Tone and mood
- absurdist; maximalist; brash
- Setting
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Premise and plot tags
- heist; magical realism; buddy comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- the song "I Love Boosters!" by his group the Coup
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, described as a 'maximalist delight' and 'brash and outrageously funny.'
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film is based on a song by the Coup.; Melissa Barrera was offered a role but declined due to scheduling.; The film will compete at the 2026 Rome Film Festival.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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