XOXO

Various people are going to XOXO, an EDM music festival in the desert. I want to do drugs. I think it would help. As for the stories, I can take most of them. I would like Ethan to be less dumb or Avilo to be less obvious. More than anything, I want him to say something to the Asian chick. I get that he's not brave enough to challenge Chopper, but he should comfort the girl to show his moral compass. Sure, the movie is trying to give him a character arc, but I need to like him more than this. I am not saying that I hate any of this movie, but some of it is more annoying than being actually funny.

I seem to be finding rather mixed reviews about this movie everywhere and I just felt it necessary to write my own review.

First off, the movie itself has so many flaws that it's nearly impossible to take seriously. I really wanted to like this movie, as I do have an interest in Hayley Kiyoko and Sarah Hyland, and because I love other movies with similar aesthetics (Spring Breakers, for example) but I guess they could only work with what they had. I don't understand why either of them would stoop to this level of garbage, but sure enough they did. Money is more important than substance.

The writing. The writing is so god awful that it's almost painful to watch it play out on- screen. The acting was obviously not top-notch but I blame that mostly on the terrible script itself. The characters were stereotypical and had very little redeeming qualities, not to mention they were so thinly written that you could care less about what happens to any of them. The story itself was also bad; nothing that exciting happened throughout the entire film and there were so many moments that randomly turned into an entirely aesthetic-fueled music video. In addition, the script seemed to find it very difficult to find any balance between negative and positive exploitation of the EDM festival scene. I constantly kept asking myself, "Is this trying to mock festival goers or is it trying to embrace them?"

The only redeeming qualities about this movie was the music (as an EDM fan, I did appreciate the soundtrack choices). The only other thing I would say was moderately decent was the visuals. Many of the visuals were well-done while some were very cheesy, so it was a mixed bag in that department. I was looking forward to this movie and was extremely disappointed because they could have done so much more with the story. Overall, I would not recommend this movie unless you simply want to watch it for the aesthetics, visuals and music. Do NOT expect a good story going into it and you may end up liking it more than I did.

This movie is not necessarily great, but I would like to admit that it is charming. Even though the plot is somewhat thin, it still has a way of making you feel up close to the story in itself. The music is great and original. The greatest aspect of this movie is the cinematography. Great directing. Colourful, vibrant and full of life. Decent acting. All around a feelgood movie. Would recommend (younger audience).

This film tells the story of an aspiring DJ who plays for the first time in a major festival.

I love EDM to bits, and I have been looking forward to this film for a long time. The music is great, and the festival looks like what I imagine it to be. However, the story spends too much time meandering the back story before the festival. The characters are not that interesting either. I was quite bored in the first half, but the film did get better when the electronic music kicks in.

XOXO tells stories about six different people that revolved around an electronic dance music festival. A young DJ, a manager, a hopeless romantic girl, an apathetic man, and a struggling couple. Their paths will collide and somehow, the music festival will brought out their worst and their best.

Plot-wise, this movie is really generic. None of the twists and resolutions are shocking nor original. The same can be say for the characters, as they were taken out of boring overdone tropes that previous movies has. The actors did an okay job, with Brett DelBuono rises among the rest. Sarah Hyland could be much better, given her Modern Family roots.

The visuals in this movie however, are appealing and engaging. Although there are no jaw dropping shots, this movie managed to capture the festival's spirit (which basically just a lot of people taking drugs and jump around til they're tired) just right.

If you like EDM and are looking for visual references, go ahead and watch. Otherwise, save your time. You're really not missing anything.