Max Joseph’s music drama, We Are Your Friends, successfully captures the struggles of four young adults who have opted out of student loans and, instead, are attempting the get-rich-quick route.
Following their attempts at wealth, aspiring DJ Cole (Zac Efron) and his friends, Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez), Mason (Jonny Weston), and Squirrel (Alex Shaffer), are promoters for a popular Hollywood event called Social. It is there that Cole’s musical talent gets noticed by James Reed (Wes Bentley), leading to a new lifestyle filled with drugs, alcohol and a chance to play at SummerFest, an upcoming music festival. However, Cole’s growing feelings for James’s girlfriend, Sophie (Emily Ratajkowski), put the protagonist in the doomed position of having to choose between the girl he likes and his mentor.
Cole embarks on a romance with Sophie and a fight ensues between the two DJs, ruining his music career — but it’s the death of his friend that puts his life into perspective. Inspired by his experiences, Cole finally mixes a track that James is proud of. Many subtle sounds and conversations that Cole has recorded throughout the film are stockpiled and mixed together to make a fresh and original track. These include voice snippets of Sophie saying “I love it here” and his friend saying “Will we ever be more than this?” — culminating in a song that the crowd falls in love with and that causes Cole to be overcome with emotion on stage.
As a music drama, We Are Your Friends has a good sense of direction but lacks any refreshing dialogue that furthers the film into coming-of-age territory — something that Joseph attempts but fails to do with the storyline. The audience is often left to fill in the blanks and make assumptions about what happens between scenes and, although the male characters develop, Ratajkowski’s character is sidelined — becoming a crutch for their development instead.
Although it doesn’t push any cinematic boundaries or provide any new messages, We Are Your Friends is a satisfying film — and anything with Zac Efron as the lead actor is never going to be a complete disaster.