When I first saw the trailer for the new Prime Video television series I’m A Virgo I thought “a kid’s show about a sheltered 13-foot tall teenager experiencing the world for the first time” wasn’t quite for me, but then like a bright neon light on a dark highway road I saw “written and directed by Boots Riley”. In my mind I saw the heavens open and I heard angels sing in harmony as I saw the release date of June 23, 2023. The second I finished that trailer I was begging to be the person to review it; I needed to see if it lived up to Boots’ previous work. This certainly is not a kids show but a continuation of Boots’ thought provoking work for older audiences.
Auteur Boots Riley
For those that don’t know, Boots Riley has written and directed one movie, the fantastic Sorry To Bother You from 2018. It’s an amazing film that made me instantly fall in love with Boots’ visual style, drama, humor, absurdism, surrealism, and especially the social commentary. Additionally, Sorry To Bother You featured stellar actors like Tessa Thompson, LaKeith Stanfield, and Steven Yuen. Despite spending the majority of his life as a musician and activist, Boots’ movie was like a magnum opus from a seasoned writer/ director that had honed their craft for years. Even with its very surreal and absurd elements, Sorry To Bother You felt incredibly grounded in the real world, and his characters felt authentic and not manufactured. It was flat out the freshest cinematic experience I’d had in years with more layers than a box of wafers. Unfortunately, past successes don’t always guarantee future ones, so let’s get to I’m A Virgo and see if Boots’ is a one hit wonder or a perfect 2 for 2.
Big Shoes to Fill
I’m A Virgo is a 7 episode series with varying episode lengths from about 21 minutes up to 37 minutes, but the majority are in the middle of that range. This may sound disappointing to some, but it actually feels like chapters in a book. Some chapters need to be longer or shorter to tell certain things in a certain style. Episodes can feel stylistically different and each episode can be more prominent with one of the numerous social commentaries present overall. Varying episode lengths have become a more common practice since Disney+ series like The Mandalorian, but because it’s a full series drop you don’t feel cheated by it like with weekly shows. Unfortunately some episodes are significantly stronger than others, and when there’s just so many layers and strengths to the show, the lulls are very noticeable.
I’m A Virgo is the story of Cootie. Born gigantic, he has lived his entire life raised in seclusion. He spends his time reading educational books, comics and watching tv, and in time becoming a 13-foot tall teenager. Eventually he’s discovered and his life in the shadows is turned on it’s head. Cootie makes friends, becomes an instant sensation and discovers life is a lot more complicated than it seemed growing up secluded. Like I said earlier, it easily sounds like it could be the plot of a kids movie, but it very much isn’t for kids.
Full Of Surprises
I’m purposefully avoiding getting deep into specifics or spoilers, because I think this show needs to be experienced with a clean slate, but I discuss the quality of the writing, directing, and acting, while avoiding too much detail. I can say right now that I hope you watch this show, without the surprises a more detailed review may drain from it.
There are so many lines and moments that convey deep disparity and disconnection between people, that to spoil them would do them a disservice. Just know that there is so much in this show, even in passive aggressive speech that is blink-and-you-miss-it, but incredibly deep. At one point Cootie’s agent talks with him and sounds like he’s trying to be complementary while saying blatantly racist things. Another scene has a completely random cameo that spotlights painfully misdirected good intentions and ignorance. Nevertheless, like everything in Boots’ work, there’s always more meaning, and something that seems random turns around elevating a later scene. There’s also different layers of details people will notice and you’ll likely be surprised at what you missed when discussing it with other people, and if you are anything like me you will want to discuss the show with other people.
Writing
The majority of the series is incredibly well written. Many of the episodes hook you in with not just well written characters and scenarios, but layers upon layers of meaning, surrealist humor or messaging, and deep social commentary. This matches Boots’ previous work as well as his proclivity for making you question what is reality in the world or exaggeration, such as a woman that is moving like the Flash; is it artistic or real? If it is real, why is no one paying attention to it ?
The show is detailed and thought provoking and expertly tackles complex systemic social and racial issues. I’m well versed in sociology and economics and more than one episode breaks down the huge flaws in the two in accurate, quick and easy to understand ways. This makes a stark juxtaposition to when the show has a lull episode or moment like an extended Cabin Fever section. There is meaning there but it also feels like there’s several sections that drag things out too much. It works for the dramatic sections but not as much for certain humorous sections. Even then, these moments have a good balance of deep emotion and tragedy surrounding them, so it could be an issue of editing choices and not necessarily the writing. The few lulls aren’t especially bad but they exist enough that they felt worth mentioning.
On top of all the detail is an overall story that one could tie to the destinies of multiple people and social justice. Some aspects are incredibly strong, especially when parodying or judging society or film, while other things like the antagonist, and capitalism in general, feel like a loose thread trying to hold the plot together until late in the series. It’s by no means bad, but the moment to moment of the series is so much stronger than the overall story arc. Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of commentary on life, culture and society, but the antagonistic characters feel less defined. As in life, In many ways it’s hard to specify true individual villains from the people that benefit from a villainous system. I found myself wondering if the story would have been better condensed to a film rather than a television series. Moments like a comedic and intimate love scene involving Cootie ended up being so dragged out that the humor was drained. It also has problems that aren’t the writing but where that writing is placed in the show.
Building up varying antagonistic elements feels like it could have been better paced bringing certain things from later episodes to earlier ones to break the lulls. For example, one character being so self-centered that he has a building built to move around him, rather than him taking an elevator. Each time the building moves it significantly disrupts everyone in the building and is layered with pretty obvious social and psychological commentary. I can’t really go into details without spoilers, but some areas would have benefited from less broad and abstract conflict, even though it’s intentional. It’s like a beautiful painting that could be even more powerful by using the same colors but swapping positions.
Directing
Unlike the minor writing and pacing flaws, the directing, details and imagery are constantly impeccable. Surreal moments will pull you in visually and stimulate you mentally and visually. From amazing shots and cinematography, to technical details, it’s all done so well. Your eyes will constantly see little details that make you laugh or think. How hard it is to tell what is forced perspective shots versus visual effects for most of the show adds to the level of directing and visual effects talent involved. Forced perspective is an old technique that uses varying distances to make people look smaller or larger than others. That is supplemented by props of different sizes that make characters look smaller or larger, like Cootie holding a tiny comic. This could have easily been a project plagued by poor effects that take you out of world, but besides some bad wigs that border on seeming intentional, I never experienced that.
On top of all the surrealist imagery and humor, a repeated cartoon shows up with an almost Paradise PD visual style usually accompanied by deep commentary, then ends with an intentionally terrible joke all the characters laugh at. The two are so at odds that each one gets stuck in your mind both in and out of the show’s universe. I say humor but it feels like diffusing humor that keeps you involved and not angry or frustrated.
Performances
Much like with Sorry To Bother You, I’m A Virgo is filled with fantastic acting that seems flawless but I imagine was the result of the director taking as many takes as necessary to get the results he wanted. Every single actor in this television series is great and I’d be listing the movie’s entire IMDB page if I were to list all the people that nailed their roles. Jharrel Jerome plays Cootie flawlessly. His physical work as an awkward 13-foot person is excellent, and despite moments where he takes up most of the screen, he’s able to seem meek and gentle. Brett Gray, Allius Barnes, and Kara Young play Cootie’s friends organically and naturally. Kara Young especially is a scene stealer; every moment she’s on screen she simply commands attention even when not speaking. I could go on about how well the entire cast acted, which is rare for any film or tv series but it’s hard to find fault with any performance.
Closing Thoughts
Audience members that understand or are willing to see and listen to the points it’s making will find incredible value in this show. If you’re not interested in seeing and hearing uncomfortable truths about the world, you probably won’t like it and aren’t really the target audience. In some ways I’m A Virgo reminds me of Attack The Block meets Sorry To Bother You. In others it makes me think of a surrealist Boyz In The Hood for a world post-superhero media boom. I highly recommend watching this series and any flaws are minor in comparison to the overall quality. Boots Riley simply amazes with his talent for film and now television, so I guess he’s 2 for 2 and I eagerly anticipate his next projects, one of which could be a second season of I’m A Virgo based on its ending.
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