A film review by Craig J. Koban September 13, 2022

METAL LORDS ½ 

2022, R, 97 mins.

Jaeden Martell as Kevin Schlieb  /  Isis Hainsworth as Emily Spector  /  Adrian Greensmith as Hunter Sylvester  /  Phelan Davis as Rocky 'Skip' Hoffman  /  Brett Gelman as Dr. Sylvester  /  Sufe Bradshaw as Dean Swanson  /  Michelle Fang as Lisa Randall  /  Noah Urrea as Clay Moss

ORIGINAL FILM

Netflix's METAL LORDS is a new high school coming of age musical comedy that - initially at least - seems to adhere to many formulas of the genre that it inhabits.  

We get a group of high school misfits and loners that face constant peer pressure and the hostile antagonism of bullies that befriend one another through shared interests to overcome social obstacles and their own inherent fears of failure.  

This all sounds pretty vanilla bland and generic, but director Peter Sollett (NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLIST) and writer D.B. Weiss (co-creator of HBO's GAME OF THRONES) infuse their film with so much honesty and humanity with their characters that it helps to transcend the very overused genre troupes that they're obviously wading in.  That, and this film displays a sincere and diehard appreciation for these colorful characters and - more importantly - the music that sustains them.   METAL LORDS is like a smooth cocktail of SING STREET, SCHOOL OF ROCK and the early teen films of John Hughes, and although it's not as sublime as the former on the list, Sollett and Weiss nevertheless give their effort some heart and soul, which makes it go down so delightfully well. 

Jaeden Martel (IT) plays Kevin, who's a marching band drummer for Glenwood Lake High School.  His longtime BFF is Hunter (Adrian Greensmith), who has massive aspirations of becoming a metal rock god with his pal, but he realizes that they have some hurtles to overcome, one of which involves the need for lot of practice to get seriously good and the other being Kevin's overall reticence.  Hunter seems bound and determined on his musical goals, but Kevin lacks self-confidence and isn't sure if he has what it takes to take their metal band to the next level.  However, Hunter's larger than life spirit and gritty determination has won Kevin over, and he ultimately doesn't want to thwart his friend's dreams.  They do share one common problem with their band, though: an adequate bassist is simply not available near them, leading to them brainstorming their next move. 

It's at this point when Emily (Isis Hainsworth) enters their world, a Scottish American student who's not happy with her placement in her school's marching band, not to mention that she has exceptional anger and impulse control issues that sometimes spill over at the worst of times.  Kevin seems instantly drawn to his introverted girl and strikes up a friendship with her, during which time he discovers that she's a deeply gifted cellist.  As they spend more time together Kevin begins to quickly fall for this idiosyncratic girl, which starts to put him at odds with his bros-only bandmate in Hunter.  While trying to deal with his friendship abandonment issues, Hunter is at constant odds with his filthy rich attorney father (Brett Gelman), who seems to give his son everything he wants, but is simply not emotionally there for him, nor does he support his musical endeavors.  Adding to the stress is the school's upcoming "Battle of the Bands", which Hunter desperately wants to conquer, but he knows that he'll need Kevin back into his life.  And, oh yeah, they still need a bassist.  Kevin has a wild idea about his new cellist girlfriend, but convincing Hunter to allow this girl into their sausage fest of a band may prove challenging. 

Two things really stand out about METAL LORDS very early on: (1) This is a high school film that has actors that look totally age appropriate as opposed to having performers well into their mid to late twenties trying to pass off as teens and (2) the story treats these kids, their issues and their vulnerabilities with a compassionately observant and empathetic eye.  Emily is introduced as an ugly duckling outcast that hates playing the bloody clarinet for her marching band and would much rather rock out on her cello.  She's also a hopeless recluse, but has her tightly sealed bubble broken by the inquisitive and caring Kevin, who latches on to her because of the early mysteries surrounding her, but then later develops a passionate love for her and her musical talents.  I can definitely see how a lesser film could have really undervalued Emily as a character and simply made her a plot device, but she's so well drawn here and wonderfully performed by Hainsworth that she becomes the film's secret weapon as opposed to a simple one note love interest.  She's also compellingly layered in terms of being a gifted cellist and lover of music on top of finding love with Kevin, but beneath her meek facade lurks a caged beast that can verbally assault you with least provocation...especially if she hasn't taken her meds.    

The central love story between Kevin and Emily is also sweetly rendered, which is also benefited from Martel's natural and lived in performance.  Of course, all of this is shrill to the max for Hunter, who becomes increasingly overbearing and toxic towards these lovebirds because of the way that he feels Emily has somehow crossed a line of no return for him and his Battle of the Bands aspirations.  Thankfully, METAL LORDS doesn't make Hunter a vengeful creep on autopilot.  He's dealing with multiple issues beyond music, like his own dilemmas with loathsome bullies and a family life living with a single and apparently compassionless dad who seems to stymie his musical growth at very turn.  Hunter also has great difficulty dealing with his own anger issues and the thought of - gasp! - a girl joining their hard rock group.  The one thing that this unlikely trio has going for them is that they all use music as a form of personal therapy, and that's what allows for METAL LORDS to simmer with so much more depth than most other coming of age high school comedies.  It treats the foibles of these characters and their respective mental health issues seriously and asks viewers to relate to each on their respective levels.  For that, I admired the democratic approach that Sollet and Weiss take with the material. 

Beyond the textured character dynamics, METAL LORDS puts the music on a high pillar of hero worship as well (as it should), and it's interesting to see how this film is not so much a dissection of what real metal entails, but rather how these kids just simply bask in its glow and use it as a creative catalyst for their own dreams.  The soundtrack that peppers the film is varied and lovingly selected, and we also gets a slew of famous industry cameos (especially during one hilarious dream sequence that features Kevin having a crisis of conscience about his love life).  Everything builds, predictably enough, to the climatic Battle of the Bands, which is beset by many roadblocks (like a forced stay at a mental clinic for Hunter implemented by his domineering dad, which is rectified by a sly series of events with the teen's doctor in ways that I couldn't have predicted).  If you can gloss over the plot contrivances on display, then it's really hard not to aggressively bang your head up and down to this trio's performance of their song, the wonderfully named "Machinery of Torment."  Their on-stage performance builds to a fantastical moment that's both hilarious and kind of touching.  You can really see the transformative power of music in these teens' eyes. 

METAL LORDS demands some patience in viewers.  The early sections seem gathered from the proverbial old genre playbook and may have many concerned as to what's to come.  After a somewhat bumpy and conventional start, though, I was frankly surprised by the steps the makers employ here to not only sell the fantasy of metal rockdom that these characters have, but also has time to invest in them and their individual issues.  The film is also not shy about hiding from some of the darker truths about mental illness and the steps required to elevate one above them, which further leads to imbuing these teens with an unexpected nuance.  In the end, METAL LORDS is feel-good comfort food that shows the trails and tribulations of its anxiety plagued young characters and highlights how they band together (no pun intended) through their collective hopes and goals of achieving something better with their music.  Very few comedies from 2022 are as easily appealing, good natured, complexly rendered, and ultimately entertaining as METAL LORDS.