Britpop — which came before widespread, illegal downloading and the advent of streaming — can now be seen as something of a last hurrah for the British music business. People still bought records and your friend’s band still believed they actually had a genuine chance of being signed on a huge million dollar contract. Now 20 years or so on, the time seems ripe for a nostalgic look back at those innocent days. Kill Your Friends, a new film coming this fall (and based on John Niven’s cult novel of the same name), does just the trick…sort of. Its trailer was just released, and you can let it lead you back to (a very cynical) 1997 below.
Nicholas Hoult plays Steven Stelfox, a young but sinister A&R man who tramples the globe looking for the next big act, leaving in his wake a trail of destruction. When the reality of the changing and less lucrative music industry hits home, Stelfox resorts to murder to maintain success.
2015 has been a good year for Hoult. Earlier this summer he starred in the hit Mad Max: Fury Road; apart from Kill Your Friends, he’ll be seen in two more starring roles before the end of 2015. Next year he will reprise the role of Hank McCoy in the X-Men franchise.
Kill Your Friends also stars The Late Late Show host James Corden, Rosanna Arquette, Tim Riley and Craig Roberts, and is directed by Owen Harris. Watch the trailer: