Shadows Contactless: Friday 25 9 pm, Netflix Party: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Cassius is out of luck and debt ridden and stumbles one step further down towards rock bottom. So, he gets a job in a call centre selling ... whatever crap he has to. It's tough at first but the old timer next to him tells him to use his white voice. Skeptical, Cassius tries it and starts raking in the sales. Soon he gets the invite from management into the deluxe realm in the upper floors he's been noticing, with the golden elevator peopled by the ostentatiously confident. 

It's good but some things aren't.  He's made friends back in the sweatshop who are chasing industrial action and he's now on the wrong side of them. His performance artist girlfriend is getting restless, politically and romantically, and the vibe he's getting from management is getting sinister. All the while people are being invited to leave their cares at the door in a kind of industrial slavery and it's working. The most popular show on TV is called I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me.

Boots Riley's full scale assault on contemporary exploitation, race relations, the gig economy and savage capitalism is the kind of movie that can make you laugh out loud when recalling a scene or line. It's dark and brutal but lifted at all times by a disarming comedic timing and constant wit, like Fight Club directed by Michel Gondry. At its centre, LaKeith Stanfield plays a contemporary Candide, going along with the good but never quite thinking it through. You will not expect the final act.

OK, we're changing at least for this one by going back to Netflix Party. I understand that this might lose me some regulars but I need to seriously rethink how to get us connected for shared screenings independent of platform. Meantime, here's how to get it.

You'll need to use the Chrome browser.

Find your way to Extensions (through settings) and search for Netflix Party and add it to the browser. A logo with the red letters NP will appear among the icons beside your address bar.

I will pick the movie and create a Netflix Party with a chatroom and post the link on the SHADOWS group page in Facebook. Click on that as the start time (I'll post it) approaches and you should end up in the Netflix chatroom (you will have an avatar and will be able to choose you own name for the chat). You'll notice that the movie has not started yet. 

If you don't see the chatroom and the movie starts playing you are in the wrong place. NB - you can only do this with a browser which might well mean you need to watch it on a computer. I get a laptop and connect it to my tv with an HDMI cable. This is the bit where we start losing people. You might also be able to use Chromecast (don't have that so can't try it).

When the time comes I'll start the movie and every one will see the same thing at the same time.

So, join me, won't you?