Kill Your Friends review

A&R man Steven Stelfox tries to survive in the cut-throat world of the 90s music industry.

Based on the 2008 book of the same name by author John Niven, Kill Your Friends aims to be a shocking take on the drug fuelled reality of the British music scene in the 90s.

To that end, this voiceover heavy film goes all out to shock you with every tool at its disposal. That includes frequent use of the c word, a rash of nasty images and dialogue is designed to provoke a reaction from the audience. It wants to be powerful but just ends up being crass and overwrought, like a kid who recently learned some curse words struggling for attention.

Lead Nicholas Hoult is, at least, watchable - though this whole performance was better when Christian Bale was doing it in 2000s breathlessly nutty American Psycho. The 25 year old has a bit of swagger and manages to capture some of the uneasy comedy required in the role, alongside the half baked drama. He's clearly trying to break some new ground as an actor which is commendable but ultimately feels too young and clean but for the part, pulling back from the nastier moments which could have been the most fun for an engaged audience.

The film might succeed most as a comedy, with some decent performers involved like Craig Roberts and James Cordon. It certainly doesn't have much to offer in the presentation of stylish violence and any potentially morally outrageous material fails to shock. We've seen all of this before, and often done better.

The rest is pretty forgettable, right down to the plot which meanders down extremely familar territory. What's the lesson here? That only horrible people get ahead? That the music industry in the 90s was a tad hedonistic? Author and screenplay scribe Niven apparently worked in the industry in that period so there's no doubt some truth to the tales recounted here but... so what?

British music fans will probably get a kick out of the frequent trivia drops and, perhaps essentially, the soundtrack is pretty decent - slapped together by none other than the ubiquitous Junkie XL.

Otherwise, there's really little to recommend here, unless you missed out on American Psycho and if that's the case you really have to check out what Bruce Wayne was up to before he donned the cowl and cape.