Keke Palmer is one of the funniest and hardest-working actresses out there right now, delivering great titles over the past couple of years including Nope, One of Them Days and a reimagining of The ‘Burbs, to name just a few. She’s keeping her foot on the gas for the 2026 movie calendar, too, teaming up with Boots Riley for I Love Boosters. Reviews are in as the film hits theaters May 22, and I’m intrigued by critics’ reactions to the “deranged” crime comedy.
In I Love Boosters, Keke Palmer’s Corvette leads a group of shoplifters — aka “boosters” — against fashion maven Christie Smith (Demi Moore) after she steals their designs. The ensemble cast boasts too many big names to list, and in his review of I Love Boosters, Joseph Tomastik of Loud and Clear says Riley brings the same chaos and big twists to this as he did to Sorry to Bother You. The critic gives it a perfect 4 out of 4 stars, writing:
I Love Boosters has everything: giant balls of financial papers rolling down streets, pseudo time travel, demons who eat people’s souls by eating them out, Will Poulter (of Warfare), and anything that Boots Riley’s mind came up with and had him going, ‘Yeah, I can somehow work that in here.’ All to the tune of raging trombones and wacky slide whistles courtesy of composers Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. The level of crazy that Sorry to Bother You climaxed with is this movie’s starting point.
Bill Bria of SlashFilm rates it 8 out of 10 and says I Love Boosters is one of the most visually innovative comedies in some time. It draws colorful inspiration from ‘90s cult movies, music videos, fashion and street culture to drive home its message, even incorporating stop-motion animation and a monstrous creature. Bria continues:
I Love Boosters certainly wears its politics and social commentary on its sleeve, yet these are only elements in the massive brush that Riley is painting with. I Love Boosters isn't some thinly veiled manifesto, but a heady, delirious, hilarious genre-bending comedy in its own right. Despite some unevenness in its structure, the movie feels like Riley has found a way to be crowd-pleasing as a filmmaker while not losing his distinctive voice.
Alyssa Mora of IGN also rates it a “Great” 8 out of 10, calling it a “cheeky takedown of capitalism served up in signature Boots Riley bizarre fashion.” I Love Boosters is equal parts romp and political statement, the critic says in her review:
I Love Boosters, Boots Riley’s candy-colored indictment of capitalism, is as sharp as it is deranged. Living somewhere along the spectrum of magical realism, the entire film is a brilliant balancing act of comedy and call-to-action that sprinkles a little philosophy in-between. Expertly executed production, set, costume and prop design bring Riley’s unique vision to life, while just as vital are the performances of our ensemble, led by Keke Palmer. Her turn as Corvette is the earnest heartbeat of a delightfully insane film.
Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire gives it a B, writing that even as I Love Boosters “spins wildly out of control,” Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie and Taylour Paige are able to ground the “dizzying, entertaining acid trip.” That’s especially true of Palmer, as Lattanzio says:
I Love Boosters is also extremely blunt in its metaphors, especially a ball of unpaid parking tickets and lien notices that keeps hurtling at Corvette. Palmer, however, is fantastic; whether or not playing almost the same character she did in One of Them Days, the Nope star is a tremendously gifted comic actor capable of finding pathos anywhere she goes. Take a line from her that stuck with me: ‘I’m even lonely when I’m with people.’ We can all relate to that.
Jacob Oller of AV Club also gives I Love Boosters a B in his review for how Boots Riley paints an amusement park ride in the bright colors of his politics. The style is like a “Marxist Pee-wee Herman run wild,” Oller says, that “weaponizes silliness of all flavors.” Some choices are more overbearing than exhilarating, but the critic loves how Riley uses classic animation to inform his vision, writing:
From the whirlwind Looney Tunes legs of someone sprinting uphill, to the Ray Harryhausen creatures eventually closing in on its leads, to the Robot Chicken-like car chase, I Love Boosters moves with the excited energy of a kid playing with toys. Even here, the ambition can outpace the execution. This means that some of the larger set pieces feel janky and haphazardly put together, the live-action actors, self-consciously fakey fantasy elements, and CGI meant to stitch them together never quite meshing.
Boots Riley clearly has some things he wants to say, and these reviews suggest he’s using all forms of humor, animation, colorful sets and some highly comedic actors to get those messages across. Critics have rated it 92% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, so if this movie sounds at all interesting or intriguing to you, take Riley’s suggestion and see it opening weekend.
I Love Boosters hits theaters on Friday, May 22.
