Boots Riley's directoral debut is a black comedy - drama film with quite a stellar cast, including Forrest Whitaker, Rosario Dawson, Patton Oswalt and Danny Glover. The movie tells the story of a young black telemarketer who decides to speak with what he calls a "white accent" because he feels that this will help him succeed more quickly in his job. The film is a different take on the traditional tug of conscience movie that sees the protagonist torn between the right thing to do and the more expeditious thing to do; in this case, the young telemarketer is forced to choose between obeying his corporate bosses and joining his activist friends in their organization of a trade union.
Not only did Riley direct the film, but he also wrote the screenplay, inspired by his own experiences working as a telemarketer and telephone fundraiser in California many years earlier. Widely acclaimed, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and went on to be released across the country six months later. The film cast two actors to play the role of Cassius "Cash" Green, the ambitious young telemarketer; Lakeish Stanfield played the majority of the role, with David Cross cast as Cash's "white voice".
Despite rumor that Riley wrote the film as a comment about Trump's America, he actually penned it under the Obama administration, and has said that it is not about any one political figure or party, but a comment and analysis of capitalism and what it takes to succeed. However, this also made it controversial in that it's view of capitalism is often very critical and one-sided, criticism that Riley has largely acknowledged.
