“Backrooms” made its way over to streaming this week, one of a bunch of other top picks for this weekend’s movie night. Some of them are on the best streaming services, and for others it’s the usual eyeroll-worthy “pay $20 to rent this damn thing” racket going on. But if you shell out the money to buy or rent one movie this weekend, there’s a much better pick for your hard-earned $20. “I Love Boosters” also barely made back half its budget, while “Backrooms” went triple platinum in theaters with over $360 million under its belt. And who doesn’t love an underdog story?
Both “Backrooms” and “I Love Boosters” are firmly in surrealist “what the hell did I just watch” territory, but nothing compares to whatever’s going on in Boots Riley’s head. This movie is “Sorry to Bother You” by way of “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” and “Parasite” and those last two movies won Best Picture. Just saying.
So if you’re looking for some trippy visuals to relax to this weekend, for my money, I’d pick “I Love Boosters.” Need some more convincing? Scroll to see each trailer and get some more details. Let us know in the comments which one you think is better. While you’re at it, check out which Netflix Top 10 picks are worth watching this weekend. And yes, “White Chicks” is one of them.
What is ‘I Love Boosters’ about?
Boots Riley brings his signature dark comedy and magical realism to a Robin Hood–style proletarian allegory in “I Love Boosters,” a surreal heist comedy that’s earned a 92% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The perennially hilarious Keke Palmer stars as Corvette, an aspiring fashion designer struggling to escape a literal and metaphorical boulder of baggage nipping at her heels.
She ends up leading an all-women shoplifting crew known as the Velvet Gang that targets high-end San Francisco stores and sells their loot at much more reasonable prices to her working-class Oakland community. Their ‘eat the rich’ antics catch the attention of ruthless fashion mogul and capitalism incarnate Christie Smith (Demi Moore), and I won’t spoil any more than that because it’s a wild ride that’s better experienced than explained. Do you understand dialectical materialism? You will after watching “I Love Boosters.”
Buy or rent “I Love Boosters” now
What is ‘Backrooms’ about?
As for what “Backrooms” is about, ain’t that the question. How do you describe a dream? Well if you copy and paste a ton of yellow hallways, throw in a foreboding sense of doom and one very large pirate, you’ve got “Backrooms.” It’s a surreal nightmare, a slow-burning psychological horror where a discount furniture salesman (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a therapist (Renate Reinsve) walk into a liminal space that fights back.
There’s no lore you need to know (trust me, I went in knowing zilch) beyond the understanding that, yeah, it would be creepy to find a labyrinth of increasingly weirder office rooms in the basement of a strip mall. You might even wonder where it goes. One unwilling protagonist after another finds out in “Backrooms.”
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