One might not expect a sweet and spicy high school comedy like Metal Lords to come from the minds that brought viewing audiences Game of Thrones, but the new Netflix film was indeed penned by D.B. Weiss and produced alongside his longtime writing partner David Benioff. Premiering on the streaming service April 8, the movie is a smart and funny mix of two things that few would expect to go together so perfectly: teenage angst and metal music.
Kevin Schlieb (played by Jaeden Martell, who has mastered teenage mood swings in It and Knives Out) is cautious and introverted student who has not yet learned to live through metal, but has agreed to join a band regardless. He does so thanks to his far more outspoken and domineering best friend Hunter Sylvester (portrayed by newcomer Adrian Greensmith), who loves the genre enough for both of them. Their hopes of competing in the school's Battle of the Bands, however, are dashed without another member willing to join. Thankfully, there's the instrumentally-gifted but short-tempered Emily (Isis Hainsworth, Emma), who Kevin has a bit of a crush on. But can she and Hunter set aside their differences and play for the love of music?
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The young stars spoke to Screen Rant about the journey of self-reflection and music appreciation that each of their characters take, and they also explained why Black Sabbath is the go-to metal band for beginners.
Screen Rant: Jaeden, when the story starts, Kevin seems more interested in appeasing his best friend than in the music itself necessarily. Can you talk about his journey over the course of the film?
Jaeden Martell: It was a lot of fun to see him grow, and to see him actually discover this music and find himself within it. Hunter didn't know this, but by giving him this key to metal and this feeling of empowerment, he used that boosted confidence to stick up for himself against Hunter.
He really just became more comfortable in his skin, because he found this genre of music, which really spoke to him.
Hunter, of course, is very into the music from the start and is an encyclopedia of knowledge. What speaks to him about this genre, Adrian?
Adrian Greensmith: My dad said something, which really helped me, right before we started filming. He was talking about metal, and he said that metal is unironic. A lot of young people today, we're all quite ironic. We all hide a little bit behind irony - which is totally fine; I do it all the time. I don't think Hunter fully gets that, and I don't think he's interested in that.
I think he's interested in something being felt with your whole chest, and with your whole heart. And metal is 100% that, so I think he likes that.
Isis, I loved Emily's arc. I feel like we don't really get to see people struggling with issues like her onscreen. Can you talk about approaching this character from that perspective and how it was handled in the script?
Isis Hainsworth: One of the first things [I did] when I was offered the part was that I spoke to Peter, our wonderful director, about what we're saying is going on with Emily. And he was very much like, "We're not going to give her a diagnosis. She's just a girl living in the world that we live in today, and sometimes that makes her angry. And that's totally understandable."
I really liked that. Rather than giving her a label of, "This is what she is, and she gets pills for it. And that's that." It was nice to just sort of [acknowledge] that she's just a human being, and a young person in this world. It was really fun to get to play her. I feel very lucky to have got to play Emily.
I don't know how much experience each of you had with metal before the film, but after having gone through it, is there a band you would recommend to someone who's just getting into the music?
Jaeden Martell: Metallica is a good intro band. What else? Black Sabbath is also more mellow, and then you can get into the hard stuff.
Adrian Greensmith: Yeah, I'd say Black Sabbath. Especially because they were kind of the first people to do it. They were the first big people to do it and, like Jaeden said, it's a little bit mellow. Mellow is a good word. And also, it's political. They wear it on their sleeve, and I think that's really cool. Yeah, I'd say Black Sabbath.
Isis Hainsworth: Yeah, I was gonna say Black Sabbath.
Metal Lords Synopsis: A Netflix Exclusive
Two kids start a metal band in a high school where exactly two kids care about metal. They can’t find a bassist, but there is this one girl who plays the cello. They need to work together if they’re going to win the Battle of the Bands.
The Netflix comedy film is rated R, because it contains strong language throughout, sexual references and nudity, as well as drug and alcohol use.
Check out our Metal Lords interview with screenwriter D.B. Weiss as well.
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Metal Lords is available to stream on Netflix starting April 8.