''We Are Your Friends'' is a 2015

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Max Joseph Max Joseph (born January 16, 1982) is an American filmmaker and a television and gameshow host. For seven seasons, he was a host and cameraman for '' Catfish: The TV Show''. He was absent from ''Catfish'' for several episodes in the fourth seaso ...

(in his

feature directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

) and with a screenplay by Joseph and

Meaghan Oppenheimer Meaghan Oppenheimer (born 1986)Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...

Emily Ratajkowski Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski (, ; born June 7, 1991) is an American model and actress. Born in London to American parents and raised in Encinitas, California, Ratajkowski began acting as a child before she gained a recurring role on the Nickelodeon ...

and

Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...

, and follows a young

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

DJ trying to make it in the music industry and figure out life with his friends. The film was released in the United States by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...

on August 28, 2015. Its financier,

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

, distributed it internationally, including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $11 million.

Plot

Cole Carter (

Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...

), a former track star, college dropout, and struggling 23-year-old DJ in the electronic dance music (

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

) scene, dreams of becoming a major record producer. Cole books a gig to DJ at a local nightclub, where he meets the headliner, a once-innovative DJ, James Reed (

). James invites Cole to a party, where Cole hallucinates because a joint they shared contained

Phencyclidine Phencyclidine or phenylcyclohexyl piperidine (PCP), also known as angel dust among other names, is a dissociative anesthetic mainly used recreationally for its significant mind-altering effects. PCP may cause hallucinations, distorted perceptio ...

(PCP). The morning after, Cole wakes up at James' house, where he is introduced to Sophie (

), James' girlfriend and personal assistant, who drives him home. Later, James calls Cole to DJ at his house party, a paid gig. Cole's friends Dustin Mason (

Jonny Weston Jonny Weston (born June 16, 1988) is an American actor. He starred as real-life surfer Jay Moriarity in the 2012 film ''Chasing Mavericks'' and as brainy high school student David Raskin in the 2015 time-travel adventure ''Project Almanac''. He ...

), Ollie (

Shiloh Fernandez Shiloh Thomas Fernandez (born February 26, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''Jericho (2006 TV series), Jericho'' and ''United States of Tara'', and the films ''Deadgirl (2008 film), Deadgirl'', ''Red ...

), and Squirrel ( Alex Shaffer) show up, and after a party goer insults Mason, Mason gets in a fight with him and has to be pulled out of James's pool. Despite his background and friends, James sees potential in Cole and takes him as his student. After listening to Cole's original song, James criticizes Cole for imitating other well-known producers, and he suggests using organic sounds for an original vibe. They write a song using the original vibe technique and vocals from Sophie, which is well received at a local nightclub. Next, Cole and his friends head to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

for a music festival, where he meets up with Sophie, whom James ditched. Sophie gives Cole

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...

, and they sleep together, spending the night at a hotel. Back in San Fernando, James invites Cole over to watch an MMA fight with him and Sophie. An awkward moment ends up with Sophie telling Cole to accept what happened and leave it alone, and James gives Cole a new MacBook Pro and the opportunity to open for him at a popular music festival. One day, Cole and Paige (

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh (The Walking Dead), Shane Walsh on the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror series ' ...

) meet up with Tanya Romero (

Alicia Coppola Alicia Coppola is an American actress. She became known for playing Lorna Devon in the soap opera '' Another World'' from 1991 to 1994. Afterwards, she made regular and guest star appearances in various television series, notably ''Jericho'' an ...

), whose house is being foreclosed. During the negotiation, Paige buys her house and rents it back to her, intending to sell it quickly for a substantial price, which angers Cole. While James' alcoholism begins to affect Sophie, he and Cole go to a strip club for his birthday. Cole gets sick, and James finds out about Cole's relationship with Sophie, and severs ties with him. Returning to his three friends, it is revealed that Squirrel has been looking for better jobs, and Mason has rented a house for all of them. Following intense partying, Squirrel is found unconscious and dies from an overdose. After the funeral, the remaining friends begin to question their future, and go their separate ways after Mason blames Ollie for the drugs that killed Squirrel. Cole visits James, whose alcoholism has completely consumed him, to let him know of Squirrel's death and that it could possibly have been his fault. James consoles him and also tells him that Sophie moved to the San Fernando Valley and works at a local coffee shop, where he later visits her. While taking a run, the battery of Cole's phone goes dead, causing his music to stop playing. Upon closer observation, he listens to his surroundings, which inspires him to record samples and integrate them into his long-awaited track. Cole then calls and tells James that he has something for Summer Fest, and James gives him another chance. The festival is set outside the

American Apparel American Apparel Inc. is an online-only retailer and former brick-and-mortar stores operator based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in 1989, it was a vertically integrated company that ranked as one of the l ...

building in Los Angeles. Cole releases his track, which contains snippets of his conversations with Sophie and Squirrel, and he later uses Squirrel's quote "Are We Ever Going To Be Better Than This?" as a hook before the beat drop. When the song ends, Cole is met with enthusiastic acclaim from the audience and James. The film concludes with Sophie going back to college, Ollie reading for an audition, Mason handling the nightclub, and Cole remaining positive about his future and creating a proper relationship with Sophie. In the

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

, Tanya opens her front door to an

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

box that Cole has been saving all of his earnings in throughout the film.

Cast

as Cole Carter *

as Sophie *

as Ollie * Alex Shaffer as Squirrel *

as Dustin Mason *

as James Reed * Joey Rudman as Joey *

as Paige Morrell *

Vanessa Lengies Vanessa Lengies (born July 21, 1985) is a Canadian actress, dancer and singer. She is known for starring in the drama ''American Dreams'' as Roxanne Bojarski. She appeared as Charge Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama ''HawthoRNe'', and ha ...

as Mel *

Brittany Furlan Brittany Jayne Furlan Lee (born September 5, 1986) is an American Internet personality, actress and comedian based in Los Angeles. She was the most followed female video star on Vine until November 2015. She was the 5th most followed viner wit ...

as Sara *

Jon Abrahams Jon Avery Abrahams (born October 29, 1977) is an American actor. His most notable film roles include Bobby in ''Scary Movie'' (2000), Denny Byrnes in ''Meet the Parents'' (2000), and Dalton Chapman in the '' House of Wax'' (2005). Early life ...

as a club promoter *

as Tanya Romero * Korrina Rico as Crystal *

Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born January 6, 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...

as himself (Cameo) *

Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by the stage name DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Francis was born in Los AngelesAhmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012Who Is Dillon Francis?Complex. Retri ...

as himself *

Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Calvi ...

as himself *

DallasK Dallas James Koehlke (born 1991), better known by his stage name DallasK, is an American DJ, record producer, writer, artist, and singer based in Los Angeles. Active since 2010, he co-wrote and produced Fifth Harmony's 5× platinum single, " Work ...

as himself * Them Jeans as himself * Zach Firtel as DJ Sweet Baby Ray's * Andy Ward as DJ Xochil * Hayden Fein as DJ DK * Jacob Epstein as DJ Bald Dad *

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

as himself (Cameo)

Production

On June 6, 2014, Efron entered negotiations to star in an untitled film about a DJ, which was set to be directed by Max Joseph. The film is Joseph's debut. On July 31, 2014, Ratajkowski joined the cast of the film, which by then had been given the title ''We Are Your Friends'', and had a start date of August 18 announced for principal photography. The name came from the 2006

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

vs.

Simian The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes ) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) and Catarrhi ...

song " We Are Your Friends".

joined the cast on August 5,

on August 14, and

on August 18. By that point,

, and Alex Shaffer had also signed on to star. In late September, the film cast background actors.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on August 18, 2014, in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. Joseph co-wrote the adapted screenplay with Meaghan Oppenheimer, based on a Richard Silverman story.

Working Title Films Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Bev ...

partners

Tim Bevan Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films. Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era, ...

and

Eric Fellner Eric Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films. Early life and education Fellner was born to a Jewish family in England. From 1972 t ...

co-produced the film, which was financed by

. Silverman was an executive producer. StudioCanal is the worldwide distributor. The promotional tour for the film included stops in London, Paris and 6 North American cities (Toronto, Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco).

Animation

A critically noted scene in the film involves animation depicting Cole's PCP hallucinations at a swanky LA art gallery.

Rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

was used to achieve this effect.

Release

In November 2014,

acquired the film's North American distribution rights. Two weeks later, StudioCanal announced that international distribution had been sold in several markets. On April 28, 2015, Warner Bros. set the film for an August 28, 2015 release. The film was only released on DVD on November 17, 2015, in North America. The

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

was only released in region B (UK, Europe, Oceania, Middle East, Africa) on December 17, 2015.

Reception

Box office

''We Are Your Friends'' grossed $3.6 million in North America and $7.5 million in other territories for a total gross of $11.1 million. It made $1.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing 14th at the box office.

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray began ...

reports with a 2,333 theater count, the film grossed an average $758 from each venue, making it the fourth worst debut for a film with a 2,000+ theater average. It was surpassed later in the year by '' Rock the Kasbah'' ($731 average) and ''

Jem and the Holograms ''Jem'', also known as ''Jem and the Holograms'', is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her ...

'' ($570), both of which opened on October 23, 2015.

Critical response

''We Are Your Friends'' received mixed reviews from critics, although Efron's performance and the soundtrack were praised. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film an approval rating of 38% based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 4.93/10. The site's consensus reads, "''We Are Your Friends'' boasts magnetic stars and glimmers of insight, but they're lost in a clichéd coming-of-age story as programmed as the soundtrack's beats." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' named Efron's performance as Cole Carter their 2nd-favorite film performance of 2015, behind only

Christopher Abbott Christopher Jacob Abbott (born February 1, 1986) is an American actor. Abbott made his feature film debut in ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' (2011). Abbott's other notable films include '' Hello I Must Be Going'' (2012) '' The Sleepwalker'' (2014) ...

as the title character of '' James White''. The magazine stated, "And while the picture's box-office returns didn't exactly pump up the volume, this 28-year-old Tyrone Power clone increasingly ranks among the most exciting American actors of his generation."

Bilge Ebiri Bilge Ebiri (; born 1973) is an English-born American journalist and filmmaker. His first feature film, a comedy thriller entitled ''New Guy'', was released in 2004. Early life and education Ebiri studied film at Yale University where his thesis ...

of Vulture.com noted that Ratajkowski's role takes a back seat to the love triangle's central Efron/Bentley relationship. The movie is the subject of the third season of the podcast '' The Worst Idea of All Time'', in which two New Zealand comedians watch the same movie every week for a whole year, and discuss it each week.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:We Are Your Friends 2015 films 2010s musical drama films British drama films American independent films American musical drama films Films about DJs Films produced by Eric Fellner Films produced by Tim Bevan Films scored by Stewart Copeland Films set in Los Angeles County, California Films shot in California Films with live action and animation Dune Entertainment films StudioCanal films Warner Bros. films Working Title Films films 2015 directorial debut films Films set in the San Fernando Valley 2015 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films