EDM has been on the rise over the past few years, but Hollywood has largely failed to look inside the booming music subscene. That looks to be changing with this summer’s We Are Your Friends, starring Zac Efron as an up-and-coming DJ searching for that one track to catapult him to the top of the charts. Along the way, he deals with growing distance from his friends, a blossoming romance with a beautiful girl (Emily Ratajkowski, of Gone Girl fame) and the pressures of working for a DJ veteran (Wes Bentley).
Though the photogenic cast, which also includes Jonny Weston (Project Almanac), Shiloh Fernandez (Red Riding Hood), Glee‘s Vanessa Lengies and The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal, might suggest this is a sexy summer popcorn pic, director Max Joseph (MTV’s Catfish) promises a “gritty, realistic, almost documentary style” movie. The trailer doesn’t really communicate that, but EDM fans will likely find a lot to like in the jam-packed soundtrack, so producers shouldn’t be worried about the movie finding an audience.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“We Are Your Friends” is about what it takes to find your voice. Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Ratajkowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.
We Are Your Friends opens on August 28th.
