Cole Carter wants to be a big-time DJ. He gets that chance. He loses it anyway. We Are Your Friends, the 2015 film about the EDM scene in Los Angeles, tries to be a coming-of-age story, a romance, and a comedy of errors. It mostly fails to pick a lane.
Trailer, via Warner Bros..
Cole Carter and His Friends
Zac Efron plays Cole, a 23-year-old who drops out of college and spends his days and nights chasing the dream of producing a hit record. His friends Mason, Ollie, and Squirrel are each pursuing their own narrow paths: Mason wants to run clubs, Ollie wants to act, and Squirrel has a gift for numbers. Together they canvas for gigs, scrape for cash, and wait for the break that never quite arrives.
The film introduces James Reed, played by Wes Bentley, as a charismatic DJ who takes Cole under his wing. James invites Cole to parties, introduces him to the crowd, and eventually employs him to spin at a house party. Cole’s performance impresses James, and the mentorship begins.
The Mentorship That Frays
The problem is Sophie, played by Emily Ratajkowski. She is James’ girlfriend and his personal assistant, and she becomes the object of Cole’s growing affection. As Cole spends more time with James, he starts falling for Sophie, which puts his new friendship with James at risk. The film spends most of its runtime building this tension, and it never fully resolves it in a satisfying way.
The PCP Trip
One night, Cole and James share a spliff at a party. Cole hallucinates because the joint contains PCP. The next morning he wakes up at James’ lavish home, where he meets Sophie for the first time. She drives him home, and the film sets up the triangle that defines the rest of the story.
The Festival in Las Vegas
Cole and his friends head to Las Vegas for an electronic music festival, where Cole meets up with Sophie. James has ditched her, and she gives Cole MDMA. They leave the festival for the Las Vegas Strip, and the film cuts away from the moment before it can resolve it. This is the clearest example of the movie’s refusal to commit to its own narrative.
What Works
The film is at its best when it leans into the comedy of the friends’ attempts to make ends meet. Their canvassing jobs, their scramble for income with Paige Morrell’s real estate firm, and their awkward encounters with the crowds they hope to impress all land as genuine, if slight, laughs.
What Doesn’t Work
The romance between Cole and Sophie is the film’s central engine, and it stalls. Cole defends Sophie when she reveals she dropped out of college after being sexually exploited, and she expresses her and James’ appreciation for his demeanor and artistry. But the film never lets Cole and Sophie act on their feelings, and the chemistry between Efron and Ratajkowski is thin enough that the whole setup feels hollow.
The EDM Setting
The film’s setting is the EDM scene in Los Angeles, and it captures some of the energy of that world. The parties, the clubs, the crowds — these elements feel lived-in. But the film never digs into what makes the EDM world tick beyond surface-level details, and that lack of depth shows in the final stretch.
A Mixed Debut
We Are Your Friends is Max Joseph’s feature directorial debut, and it shows. The film is competent but unremarkable, with a script that borrows from familiar coming-of-age tropes without adding much of its own. The performances are fine across the board, with Wes Bentley delivering the most memorable work as James, the charismatic mentor whose hold over Cole is the film’s central tension.
Ranking the Elements
- The comedy of the friends’ canvassing and scrambling for income
- The energy of the EDM parties and crowds
- The mentorship between Cole and James
- The romance between Cole and Sophie
- The PCP trip and its aftermath
- The Las Vegas festival and the MDMA night
- The film’s mixed reviews and modest gross
- The film’s failure to resolve its central triangle
The Verdict
We Are Your Friends is a film that knows its setting but not its characters. It’s watchable, occasionally funny, and forgettable within hours of finishing. It earns a 4.6 out of 10.
The film grossed $11 million, a modest result for a release from Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews and has settled into a reputation as a minor entry in Efron’s catalog.
Final Score
We Are Your Friends is a film that knows its setting but not its characters. It’s watchable, occasionally funny, and forgettable within hours of finishing. It earns a 4.6 out of 10.
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