August 24th, 2015 
James Shotwell 
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
The above quote from Hunter S. Thompson is one I’ve seen shared more than a thousand times in my life, typically from music professionals who have reached their wit’s end with whatever project they have currently been tasked with making a success. It’s a funny line, but it’s not necessarily untrue. There are problematic areas of the music industry, as well as areas where far more partying happens than actual work, but there is far less of that today than was present in the industry twenty or thirty years ago.
Kill Your Friends, which is based on the John Niven novel with the same name, captures the dark underbelly of the music industry during the height of the 90s Brit-pop era. The film stars Nicholas Hoult as Steven Stelfox, an unhappy agent for a record label, alongside a range of stars including Rosanna Arquette, James Corden, Tom Riley, and Craig Roberts. The first trailer does not reveal much about the plot, but from the imagery it seems clear that we’ll follow Hoult’s character as he tries to navigate the often treacherous waters of the entertainment business. You can view the footage below.
There is a strong American Psycho vibe to this trailer, but having not read Niven’s novel I’m unsure whether or not that is intentional. Comment below and let us know your first impressions of the film.
Kill Your Friends opens November 6.
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