Tockinit not horrible nor great

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Oli Palmer "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.

junkmailspamer 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.

leonblackwood Review: Although this movie is original, I did think that Steven Stelfox (Nicholas Hoult), took his job a bit too seriously and his warped mind and vicious inner mind, led him down some extremely deep paths. In a lot of ways, I did find the movie entertaining and I liked the in depth look into the cutthroat world of being an A&R agent in the music business but I would have chosen someone else to play the lead. That's not to say that Nicholas Hoult is a bad actor or that he didn't give this role his all, it's just that I'm used to his squeaky clean, posh demeanor, which I have seen in his previous movies. He was quite good in the remake of Mad Max and Warm Bodies but I think this movie needed a bit of a bad boy to play Steven Stelfox. With that aside, I liked the whole 90's backdrop and the storyline is well written, in a warped minded type of way. Steven's determination to reach the top, no matter who gets in his way, was interesting throughout and I really didn't know what direction the movie was going to take but I still think that Steven should have been punished for his actions. The fact that no one suspected him for the murders, was a bit far fetched but there were some great performances from James Corden and Ed Skrein, and the soundtrack was great. Watchable! Round-Up: It's seems like I have watched Nicholas Hoult, 26, grow up since his first major role in 2002 in About The Boy, because he has become a well respected actor who takes his craft seriously. In 2005 he starred alongside Nicholas Cage in the Weather Man and then he starred in Kidulthood, which went down well with audiences. After starring in the hit series Skins, he turned back to the big screen in movies like a Single Man, Clash of the Titans, X-Men: First Class, Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Mad Max: Fury Road, so he has taken on different genres in some big budget movies. He's yet to prove that he is a bankable star in a leading role but he still has plenty of time to show gain knowledge in the acting world. This is the first major release from Owen Harris, who has mainly done work for the TV. I personally think that this film was a lot like the hit series Vinyl, which I quite enjoy, so there are some good and bad points about the film.I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/crime/thrillers starring Nicholas Hoult, James Corden, Georgia King, Craig Roberts, Joesph Mawle, Rosanna Arquette and Jim Piddock. 5/10

Tom Dooley Nicholas Hoult of 'Skins' fame plays Steven Stelfox who is a twenty something 'A and R' man for a London based purveyor of awful music. He is the sort of person the eighties generation of greed produced. He has no soul and is only in it for the money. He knows it is a cut throat business and so decides to take that advice quite literally by doing just that.Now this is one of those films that has people either raving or seething and I think comparisons to 'American Psycho' have not aided this in gaining the audience it needs. It is a black comedy but the comedy is fairly well rationed out and if you find bad things happening to be about as funny as a sack of dead babies then you will not like this.The acting is as expected with no stand out performances and no one letting the side down either. James Corden is in it for a while and does his trademark getting his kit off – which is more worn out in terms of mirth than a 'Primark' welcome mat during sale season. Craig Roberts plays an awkward record co 'gofor' and is OK in that too. Hoult is believable and very unlikeable and I think that is the total point. The record industry is full of the sort or folk that you really do not want to be your best buds – even on a multi media social network. It is cut throat but using the vehicle of humour is a very good way to send it up and so I am in between the ravers and the seethers but actually appreciated this film – the good parts outweigh the lesser ones.