Kill Your Friends

source: Kill Your Friends

This Film tells the story of a record industry talent scout in the 1990's London, who stops at nothing when it comes to career advancement. Firstly, the music in the film is great because those songs are the songs I grew listening to. Hearing relatively non hit tracks such as "The Private Psychedelic Wheel", or other big hits like "Encore Une Fois" brings back memories of those great years! Nicholas Hoult is insanely handsome in this film. He's charming and likable even though his character is reminiscent of "American Psycho". That's what make the film very interesting and engaging. I really enjoyed it.

Probably not a spoiler cause I am going to be vague, but marked just in case. I don't care for the thinking that this is the American Psycho of this generation. I loved American Psycho, I mean, feed me the kitty is gold. I didn't get that humor from this and it is much more simplistic psychologically. The start of Kill Your Friends is definitely setting the same tone and the homages were noticed and appreciated. I am all about the amoral character and loved those moments. Kill Your Friends has some seriously dark, cynical humor and that is awesome. The problem is that the path of these two movies is very different. One is all about the decent of the mind and the realization of what can happen with an unreliable narrator. That is satire. Business card scene anyone? This movie does not have a decent into madness story line that develops the character as you are along for the ride. Instead, it has a decent into whiny bitchdom with no real reason or purpose to it other than to fill time. I got bored at some point and was wondering what happened to the film that I was initially watching. *spoiler* it does redeem itself in the final act as he realizes who he is surrounded by. However, even that was a stupid moment as he started off telling us that exact thing and yet, he somehow forgot while he was curled up in a ball crying. I say it is a movie in three acts and the second act is when you should go get that popcorn. You won't miss anything meaningful. Like, unfortunately most things nowadays, it is simple and shallow if you want to compare it to the past. It is not the next American Psycho movie, but I have a feeling it is probably a hilarious book.

Pretty slick dark comedy a bit similar to American Psycho but set in the British music-scene circa 1997 about a A&R man who'll do anything to get a new hit. Nicholas Hoult does really well in the lead I thought, doing something really different to anything I've seen him in before which mostly have been American films. It doesn't have any likable characters but it doesn't really need to, that's not really what this movie is about after all it's a (extreme) satire on the music-business and if you are aware of the 90's music-scene you can easily tell some groups that are being poked fun of, but mostly it's about the people behind the scenes. I can't really say too much more about it than that as I might end up spoiling something, but yeah it's a pretty cool flick, fairly fast paced and with a rocking 90's soundtrack to match.

Kill Your Friends (2015) is an outstanding film based on the happenings with the music industry as an a&r rep. This film is beautifully packed with the perfect cast, the perfect script; this film is on point from start to finish. The moment I heard about Kill Your Friends (2015), I knew I had to see it that it was a film that had my attention and it did. As the movie started up it had that "Trainspotting" vibe to it, the chaos factor, the thrill ride; everything was intact. The way the story cycled through as it pulls you closer to the edge preparing to unwind; this film is perfect in all ways. This is a great film for indie musicians to watch, and of course fans of music in general; this movie does point out some true tips. This is certainly a film that will be in our personal DVD collection. Source: http://www.huludb.com/movies/242357-kill-your-friends

Steven Stelfox is a young A&R man who has no interest whatsoever in the music he is responsible for. His only interest is his own personal advancement, in pursuit of which he is prepared to violently murder people who had regarded him as a friend. To be fair, he only does this once. Sorry, twice. Oh, hang on a minute... Nicholas Hoult plays Steven in a pitch-black comedy which disturbs as much as it amuses. Steven is a character who, one hopes, is exaggerated to the extent that someone with his extremes of career-advancement strategies doesn't actually exist: the film suggests, however, that he is not alone. Given the nature of the material, the extreme bad language and constant drug use are no surprise. The sex – advertised on the certification as "strong" – wan't, particularly. My big problem with this movie is that I don't know whether I liked it or not. Stelfox, though charismatic, is a deeply unpleasant murderer and manipulator of people: I didn't like him, I didn't identify with him, and I didn't much like spending time in his company despite being passably interested in what he was up to. So don't expect me to recommend one way or the other – make your own mind up.

God forbid everyone follows their heart. Some thrive on manipulation, power, profit and smiting self-declared enemies. It is the late 1990s and Steven, a record company executive, has no talent, heart or scruples. It all works to his advantage. "Nothing important is ever decided in a meeting," says Steven "but they are good for humiliating people." He hates customers and clients alike, frames and blackmails co-workers, and stops at nothing to gain influence, money, drugs, women and booze. When a co-worker gets in his way, Steven doesn't just murder him. He kills the man's little dog and sets a co-worker up for the murder. Steven knows the one thing that matters in the music industry; a big hit. Raw, irreverent and full of dark humor, the film is thrilling despite awkward acting. It is refreshingly original, especially with the unexpected ending. It is delightful to watch Steven in his ups and downs, pretending to be team player even as he undermines everyone around him. Unleash your monster. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

"Get fucked, you wouldn't last 10 minutes" quips Steven Stelfox (Hoult) right into the camera early on in KILL YOUR FRIENDS, the adaptation of John Niven's 2008 novel. He's aiming this put-down at the viewer as an exclamation of his superiority over us. He wants us to be envious, jealous, maybe even hate him. He's an A&R man in the music business, and he wants us to know that his life is awesome, and ours is not when compared to his. This set-up is then followed by roughly 90 minutes of the sort of drug-taking, jet-flying and partying exploits that could be expected, with the odd merciless killing thrown in for good measure. By the end though, it's difficult to feel envious of him, because when it comes down to it, his life (and by implication; this film) is really not that great. Set in the year 1997, Stelfox is consistently hunting for the next big thing in music. In doing so, his excessive lifestyle can be permitted to continue. He will stop at nothing to be successful in this business and he's not afraid to step on toes to get there. When even that won't work, there are always... other options. Nicholas Hoult, at first glance appears too young to play this role. The baby-faced actor is a little difficult to take seriously as a top A&R man when the majority of his colleagues appear at least 10 or 15 years older than him. Hoult however, carries himself nicely in the lead role, doing all that can be reasonably required of him. Unfortunately the issues for KILL YOUR FRIENDS stem from a very unfocused script that never seems to have a chief goal to aim for. The story attempts to make up for this by throwing in some genuinely shocking scenes of violence that will long be the images engrained in people's mind when they think back to this film. The consistent fourth-wall breaking nature of Stelfox's character, coupled with the ever-present voiceover means we always know exactly what's going on in Stelfox's head. But this doesn't necessarily ensure we always know why he's doing the things he's doing. His eventual foray into murderous tendencies is not handled with any clear focus and subsequently just feels out of character, even for someone with his levels of excess. John Niven's adapted screenplay is keen to hammer in the point that the music business is full of people, tasked with pulling the strings of artists who all have egos that outweigh their talent by a considerable margin. Niven himself worked in the music business for ten years, so its more than likely his characters are loosely based on real people that he has came across during this time. This adds a certain authenticity to the proceedings here, and it's not exactly too difficult to imagine some of the people were genuinely like this, especially in the 'experimental' 90's music era. For all the good intentions involved here, KILL YOUR FRIENDS comes across as a distant British second cousin to both THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and AMERICAN PSYCHO, paying homage to both but never really finding its own identity.

There are many things that can be compared with American Psycho. And while I have no idea what this movie was based on (except the music area instead of the general business area that American Psycho was dealing with), it is good fun to watch it. Good fun if you remind yourself, that it's only a movie and it is just here to entertain. Because you won't find many likable people in this. But characters you might remember afterwards, which is not a bad thing to achieve. You might also learn a thing or two about the music industry (though nothing too revealing I reckon). But as with Psycho, this is more about human depth and getting inside the mind of a crazy person. As much as that is possible of course. Nothing to imitate here of course, but a lot to laugh about - because it's just a movie

I wasn't even sure if watching this movie is a good idea. But not trusting in the IMDb points proved me right once again. Kill your friends builds up the dramaturgy to a certain point, never getting too abstract or unrealistic. I have spent way too much time in London and in London's clubs and pubs to find the abuse of alcohol or cocaine unrealistic. And that was 2015. I couldn't imagine the music business in the 80s and 90s. On top of the storyline comes a brilliant cast. Nicholas Hoult is unexpectedly brilliant. I only knew him from warm bodies but this is a big leap in his acting. One of my favorite films until now in 2016. Sorry for the bad English.