I like Nicholas Hoult enough to check out the movie when I saw the poster at my local theater, plus I became really found of music around the time period the movie takes place in and was a fan of the Britpop thing going on at the time. Also, this is the second time I've seen Hoult do something that was not Superhero or genre (the first being Dark Places, starring Charlize Theron).
Although the title did make it seem like it may be a horror movie. In a way. it is, especially if you seen American Psycho.
Hoult plays a brutally honesty (which makes him very unlikeable) A&R rep for a record label, who's trying to climb to the top of the ladder, at the same time trying to find the next Britpop sensation. He falls under all the clichés of a man trying to reach the top, coping with stress with sex and drugs, all the while trying to be the cool guy in the room. Then we discover how far he will go to climb up that ladder to success, of which the term back stabbing does not fully explain.
It's brilliant as a satire on the music industry as a whole during that time. They go over the bubblegum pop machine that is boy bands and pretentiousness of bands that want to be considered indi, it even pokes fun of the techno scene that was developing and the moment when Hip hop was about to dominate. No stone is left unturn making it a hard hitting poke at whatever category you fit in and really hopes you have a good sense of humor about it.
Holt plays the villainous protagonist that has become popular on TV (like Tony Sprano and Walter White). It's something different than the Awkward but good looking kid he plays in a lot of his movies and he handles that fact that not everyone will fancy his character and keeps it completely true to form.
For everyone who remembers the late 90s and loves stories on the music industry.
