I'm A Virgo is the new absurdist comedy mini-series by writer, creator and director Boots Riley. His previous screen work, the brilliant 2018 film Sorry to Bother You, was one of my favourite films of recent years. So I was looking forward to I'm A Virgo and it didn't disappoint.
The series uses the story of a 13 foot tall young man, Cootie, first exploring the world around him and running up against inequalities that challenge his previously rose-tinted view of the world. That summation though doesn't do justice to a series that manages to combine elements of fantasy and sci-fi with superheroes, mixes of dazzling and crude animations and hard hitting anti-capitalist propaganda. Combine all these with a brilliant soundtrack from Boots Riley's group The Coup as well as tracks from an array of big names from Kendrick Lamar to Thin Lizzy. Some will find the anti-capitalist message preachy, and certainly it isn't subtle but given the crises of our time it is timely. And while the plot is thin enough, there is enough surreal comedy and great characters to keep it watchable.
