Let's get something out of the way. This is barely a film. It's more like a one hour music video with a loose and cheesy storyline that ties all the videos together. That being said, I really enjoyed this project. The writing is cliche and sometimes overly dramatic and the acting can be a bit wooden but that's the point. It's like a filmed version of a medium budget stage production with an absolute killer soundtrack. All the songs in this are really good and bring back a nostalgic yet new feeling in their sound and lyrics. In the end, give this a watch. It's unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before.
32 Reviews
Transcends what musicals and albums should be
taromonkey16 January 2021
Not to call on the wrath of the Beyhive, because truly, the visual poetry that was Lemonade, was a hair-pullingly, lapel-shakingly amazing deep dive into Beyonce artistry. BUT this cultural artifact from Machine Gun Kelly is a proper study of this long-form contemplation of a musical artist's intentions put out into the world. What is this genre? A long music video? A musical short film? Whatever it is, when talented artists like Machine Gun Kelly and long-time collaborator Modsun, take this genre on, it elevates what we now should expect of musicals, of albums and of artists.
This film does not come with the ambition of gravity and philosophy--it is obviously light: with its DIY pop-coloured sets and pantomime. But in its off-handed creativity, it shows us there is infinity in what we assumed was a tired and saturated pop artifact landscape.
The script and snippets of the Downfalls High storyline are music-video like--just enough to outline an easy-to-understand plot about unlikely teenage love gone sideways. The characters are emoting just enough to nail the montage of a rapidly moving relationship. Of note is Sydney Sweeney who is reminiscent of a young Amanda Seyfried. Then, MGK, Travis and Co. pop out from the shadows, rocking out in the interludes of the characters' lived moments, as happens in "musicals". But here is where a magical departure takes place: the hackneyed shoe-horned situational songs that make some of us loathe the genre are nowhere to be found. SOMEHOW, MGK's previously released album (Tickets to My Downfall), from which each song was written entirely about personal, specific things that happened in the singer's life (pandemic, death of his father, addiction, thinking of his daughter during a suicidal spell), fit like die-cast joinery with this completely different storyline that had nothing to do with any those things. How?? The musicality and main hooks of the songs mesh entirely with the universal themes of new love, hope, small glories, loneliness, cynicism and heartbreak, even if the lyrics are specific. The fit is uncanny. It is a musical loaded with singles. The only answer is that the songs and the sentiments are universal.
DH elevates the notion of what songs should be in musicals--they should transcend the film and stand on their own, as does MGK's album did last year debuting at #1. It also elevates what songs on what an album should be--they should transcend the life of the artist and be universal--how too, do regular people live and die to this music?
Maybe NOT a 10/10 because I am personally tired of watching films about the life and times of white hetero people. Honestly, this point could have been made with a less basic storyline and it would have been the better for it.
This film does not come with the ambition of gravity and philosophy--it is obviously light: with its DIY pop-coloured sets and pantomime. But in its off-handed creativity, it shows us there is infinity in what we assumed was a tired and saturated pop artifact landscape.
The script and snippets of the Downfalls High storyline are music-video like--just enough to outline an easy-to-understand plot about unlikely teenage love gone sideways. The characters are emoting just enough to nail the montage of a rapidly moving relationship. Of note is Sydney Sweeney who is reminiscent of a young Amanda Seyfried. Then, MGK, Travis and Co. pop out from the shadows, rocking out in the interludes of the characters' lived moments, as happens in "musicals". But here is where a magical departure takes place: the hackneyed shoe-horned situational songs that make some of us loathe the genre are nowhere to be found. SOMEHOW, MGK's previously released album (Tickets to My Downfall), from which each song was written entirely about personal, specific things that happened in the singer's life (pandemic, death of his father, addiction, thinking of his daughter during a suicidal spell), fit like die-cast joinery with this completely different storyline that had nothing to do with any those things. How?? The musicality and main hooks of the songs mesh entirely with the universal themes of new love, hope, small glories, loneliness, cynicism and heartbreak, even if the lyrics are specific. The fit is uncanny. It is a musical loaded with singles. The only answer is that the songs and the sentiments are universal.
DH elevates the notion of what songs should be in musicals--they should transcend the film and stand on their own, as does MGK's album did last year debuting at #1. It also elevates what songs on what an album should be--they should transcend the life of the artist and be universal--how too, do regular people live and die to this music?
Maybe NOT a 10/10 because I am personally tired of watching films about the life and times of white hetero people. Honestly, this point could have been made with a less basic storyline and it would have been the better for it.
Nostalgic!!!
in5n816 January 2021
Great music and a good story!
Seb_35 February 2022
MGK took his most famous and popular songs and wrote a script and a story around those. Combining visual storytelling with amazing music creating a musical drama with a pretty good story.
The cinematography switches between high quality and old school cameras, bringing a certain quality, which helps with keeping up with the pace of the songs and adapts as the story changes and you go through every different emotion from ultimate highs to ultimate lows. Sydney Sweeney as Scarlett is absolutely stellar, while the rest of the acting from the other actors is just alright, but it gets the job done and ultimately with the music and production value, it sells the story and makes it work.
It's completely free, with no ads, on youtube! So it's easily accessible for everyone. A must watch for all fans of Machine Gun Kelly and his music!
7/10.
The cinematography switches between high quality and old school cameras, bringing a certain quality, which helps with keeping up with the pace of the songs and adapts as the story changes and you go through every different emotion from ultimate highs to ultimate lows. Sydney Sweeney as Scarlett is absolutely stellar, while the rest of the acting from the other actors is just alright, but it gets the job done and ultimately with the music and production value, it sells the story and makes it work.
It's completely free, with no ads, on youtube! So it's easily accessible for everyone. A must watch for all fans of Machine Gun Kelly and his music!
7/10.
Review
izabellavieira18 January 2021
Perfect
danielleburden21 January 2021
I mean, it's okay.
felixedler-8759616 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
When Machine Gun Kelly announces that he's turning an album of his into a movie, you pretty much know what you're gonna get. First, the positives: The set design and colour pallets in this short film are brilliant - very impressive and aesthetically pleasing. It's clear that a lot of thought went into this field, same can be said for the costume design. The entire thing is popping with colour and its honestly very nice to look at. The music is also pretty good, and it creates a very clear vibe that they were going for. I'll also say that the verbal narration from MGK himself has some interesting lines in it, and the editing was also pretty good as it encapsulates that feeling of youthful ignorance and focus on having a good time. I respect that.
All that being said, my major problem with this is that the acting performances in this thing are underwhelming. All the lines feel improvised on the spot and the actors don't seem to have any remote chemistry. It all feels really awkward and it's clear the actors and writers didn't really think deeply into the characters beyond surface level. The story is also not nearly as profound as it believes itself to be and felt like it was written in 5 minutes.
Overall, I think this is a nice first filmmaking attempt from MGK and he clearly has a lot of ideas and creative drive that I'm glad to see, but it's clear there are some major areas that could be improved. While aesthetically pleasing and well produced overall, the performances are bland and the narrative is pretentious. I may simply not be the intended audience for this, and I respect any opinions that loved it. I'm glad you enjoyed it! It just really doesn't do much for me.
All that being said, my major problem with this is that the acting performances in this thing are underwhelming. All the lines feel improvised on the spot and the actors don't seem to have any remote chemistry. It all feels really awkward and it's clear the actors and writers didn't really think deeply into the characters beyond surface level. The story is also not nearly as profound as it believes itself to be and felt like it was written in 5 minutes.
Overall, I think this is a nice first filmmaking attempt from MGK and he clearly has a lot of ideas and creative drive that I'm glad to see, but it's clear there are some major areas that could be improved. While aesthetically pleasing and well produced overall, the performances are bland and the narrative is pretentious. I may simply not be the intended audience for this, and I respect any opinions that loved it. I'm glad you enjoyed it! It just really doesn't do much for me.
This was great
bwrld16 January 2021
MGK brought something completely different to the table and I loved every single second of it The man does everything Whoever says that he is not talented because he just dissed Eminem they need to see Colson as a person I am also an Eminem fan this movie all in all was great
It's fine I guess
jonahfoy30 August 2021
This film was made in 4 days and it really shows. I don't really think I should be calling it a film because it's pretty much a long music video. To me it seems like a majority of the energy of making this was put into the set and costume design, I LOVE the pink colours, but everything else just falls flat on it's face. The plot for me is pretty predictable, the characters feel like they don't know each other, and I don't really like the dialogue, it's just kind of cheesy and wooden, and the acting doesn't really help. Also I think I would've enjoyed this more if I like mgk and I don't really. But I was forced to watch this from a friend and, fun fact we stopped being friends after watching this because I didn't say it was a masterpiece or something else ridiculous.
10/10!!
kayladeville8721 January 2021
If I could rate this movie more I definitely would! This was the best movie musical I ever watched in my entire life! Every single person in this movie is hella talented! Also I'm a huge fan of MGK and lets just say that he's about to be on top and big with his own movies! This was the best! I could watch it over and over!
I love everything about this
andrea_j-4438121 January 2021
I will rewatch it many times. I am unbelievably proud of All those who made this. I am so here for it! It took me to another time and place. The story line is amazing and everything was executed so well. Bringing back music videos like this is beyond rad! I feel like a kid again binging MTV music videos late at night. Dont get me started on the music itself that I have already been obsessed with since the moment it was released. Its a masterpiece!
Amazing
ajdiaz-4389321 January 2021
No depth at all, the plot isn't 100% and leave many questions unanswered
joanna-hemmingsson30 January 2021
Tons of different scenes without a connection, the entire Tickets To My Downfall album could be as a online gig or something. We do not even get to know the characters, only short sequences that they are together. They probably wrote and shot it all it in a very short span.
Great piece of art!
manzsonja18 January 2021
Disappointing at its best
neuberyannick11 April 2021
I was confused by the "plot", especially the ending. The colours and some of the cinematography and a few songs were pretty nice but the rest was bland and boring for me. I'm not even sure if this is supposed to be a movie that somenody can rate.
WORK OF ART
chelseabateman18 January 2021
I wanna start of by saying this was absolutely amazing, it was emotional, had a good story which was easy to follow, the production was great! machine gun kelly and mod smashed it, if you're not rating this a 10/10 then you clearly haven't watched it or paid attention. i loved it so much, i'm so proud of them and all their hard work that went into making this! WATCH DOWNFALLS HIGH RIGHT NOW!!! EST 4 LIFE
Well Darn...
ZachPike3 July 2021
When you hear about a movie musical that stars TikTok stars with few professional actresses, you don't expect much. I went into this being a huge fan of MGK and tickets to my downfall but just expecting random videos with his songs in the background and holy mother of god I was wrong. The movie just puts you in a good mood. It just makes you happy and think about everything you've been through as a teenager and the story is very well constructed with brilliant performances from Chase Hudson, Sydney Sweeney and of course MGK. The short film is so relatable and will not fail to make you fall in love with the characters as well as the music. MGK has, yet again, surprised not just his fans, but people everywhere. Every song fits perfectly with the scene it's played in and a huge hands up to Kelly for absolutely smashing this short film and the music. Highly highly recommend and perfect to watch if you need some more of that teenage nostalgia.
OMG!!!
carteros12 February 2021
Downfalls High Review
2/12/21 By Carter Stevens Mr. Baker
Wow. This film has left me speechless. This is a true masterpiece and revolutionization to music videos as a whole. The fusion between music video and film was masterfully pieced together by the likes of Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker) and Travis Scott, with a star-studded cast consisting of Lil Huddy (Chase Hudson), Brown Bear, Lil Aaron, and Sydney Sweeney. With such a unique set of talent, you can never go wrong but this definitely exceeded my expectations. The Dialogue was beautifully written, the script was incredible and the music was extremely exquisite. (Spoiler Alert) I can't lie to you I don't cry during many movies but this one left me in shambles with the death of my beloved Scarlett. Although this is very unique and I don't like to compare it is almost as if Riverdale and 13 reasons why were fused together to make a masterpiece about depression and the stressful life of a rockstar/vampire such as Little Huddie. The character development was immensely focused on during this piece as you can see Lil Huddie's character starts to not give no f's no moe, he transformed into his full rockstar, angsty teen, vampire boy potential! Lil Huddy was amazing in his role so was Sydney but Travis was definitely the standout for me in this film. He really made me believe he meant every word he said and that he always keep dat strap on em. Machine Gun Kelly... man what to say about this guy a true FLIPPING GENIUS. This guy is the next Martin Scorsese and he's the best artist of all time??? My oh my does this guy have some talent #westancolsonbakerandpetedavidson. The ending really left me at a holt, had me wondering what would come next for this young star and how his future would turn out. I hope his ear is ok! Pink Switchblade saved my life. I was in a really dark place during the first watch of this film, I was overstimulated and really really really sad. But this band really showed me that life isn't about happiness or fulfillment but it's about how you use your time on this earth and how many fun and epic rock concerts you go to. All in all, this is my favorite movie of all time and I would recommend this to ANYONE IT IS A MUST WATCH YOU BETTER FREAKING WATCH THIS WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!
XOXO
-Lester Stillworth
XOXO
-Lester Stillworth
not bad and not good
idunnsmall20 March 2021
Levels to this!
djvsickle20 January 2021
Album Movie!
tiffybell-6247918 January 2021
Greatest album video ever
davidseanh1 February 2021
It is a great emotional story filled with great music and it sets the bar for music videos in 2021 AT THE VERY LEAST
if this doesn't win best music video of 2021 from every outlet then every voter needs to be stripped of voting privileges
if this doesn't win best music video of 2021 from every outlet then every voter needs to be stripped of voting privileges
See also
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