Daisy Jones and The Six review: Slick fictional Fleetwood Mac-style tale is addictively fun
Based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, meet the greatest band to never exist
Welcome to the break-up of the 'Greatest Band To Never Exist' in Daisy Jones And The Six.
Based on the international bestselling book by Taylor Jenkins-Reid, this Prime Video series — much like the band it's based on — has a built-in fanbase big enough to fill a stadium.
So they have a hell of a lot of hype to live up to. And thankfully, it succeeds.
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The story goes like this: In 1979, rock band Daisy Jones And The Six perform their biggest show yet, only to break up the second they get off-stage and never reveal why.
Fast forward 20 years later, the group is finally convinced to tell their story. In an interview/flashback format similar to a 90s Behind The Music documentary, all the bandmates recount their rise and fall: every grisly detail.
From the second you meet her, it's so clear Riley Keough (Elvis Presley's granddaughter) was born to play Daisy Jones, looking like she was lifted straight off the book cover. Daisy establishes herself as a badass party girl with raw talent... if only she can be reined in.
Through her, we're introduced into the whirlwind world of rock 'n' roll in Los Angeles, as well as the misogyny women face by their mere presence, and the way they have to put on a persona in order to survive.
But as Daisy Jones says herself "I'm not a muse, I'm the f***ing main event" and love or hate the character, Keough is exactly that in every scene she's present.
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Things take a turn her way when music producer Teddy brings her on board for a song with up-and-coming group The Six – led by eccentric and denim-clad, teetotal frontman, Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). Billy is also a "main event" kinda guy, and isn't best pleased with sharing the microphone with someone like drug-fuelled loose cannon Daisy.
But anyone with eyes can see an immediate connection, and throughout their studio sessions, their duel personalities make way for one killer, passionate album.
Which is particularly awkward if you're Billy's wife, Camila (Camila Morrone).
From the outset, Daisy Jones And The Six is a vibe, romanticising the 70s, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and flared-and-flowy fashion the era is known for and bringing it to life in bright and bold technicolour.
The band truly do feel like something straight out of the era, which is only matched by the full creation of Aurora, the album that sent the band into the stratosphere and comes to life straight off the pages to something you can listen to on Spotify.
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Suki Waterhouse, Josh Whitehouse, Sebastian Chacon and Will Harrison, combined with Keough and Claflin, create a band you would willingly fork out your money for at a hot summer festival. They would clean up on the main stage at Coachella.
The band's music is made of songs that didn't quite make Fleetwood Mac's seminal classic Rumours – stories of love and hate, arguing through studio sessions as they create catchy tunes that get stuck in your head for hours.
The group's fraught and complex relationship as they go from wedding band to stadium rockstars is well-built and feels genuine (even if it can sometimes be a struggle to believe a 36-year-old Claflin playing a 20ish-year-old singer at the early stages of their career.)
However, due to its ten-episode limited run, it does mean certain things from the book have been removed and tweaked in order to keep the story going.
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It largely goes by unnoticed, for example with Daisy coming straight into the band instead of making it on her own first in a smoother transition.
But where it does let the side down is the grittier elements of the story. Without giving away anything, drug use is, naturally for a band, pretty prominent – though largely happens off-screen, at least to begin with, which stunts one character's personal growth and motivations as a result.
It also seems to somewhat romanticise drug use, with character low points being glossed over, showing the fun partying times, without always the inevitable fallout.
The character of Camila — who has a fundamental role to play in the book — also sadly doesn't quite translate to screen.
This is nothing on Morrone, who oozes the loving and heartwarming energy the character requires, but more on the storytelling, which somewhat sidelines her in the love triangle once Daisy comes into play.
The band's called The Six and there's only five members – in the book, she's the unofficial sixth, providing comfort and guidance as the group pick up a celebrity steam akin to Beatlemania with only one album under their belt.
It likely can't be helped as we are meant to be focusing on the band, and Camila's not a functioning member of it, but it's a shame nonetheless, and makes Billy's ongoing battle between who to pick a little more one-sided.
But then there are more glorious moments where characters are given more of their due. This is most prevalent in the shape of Simone, Daisy's fabulous best friend and confidante with musical hopes and dreams of her own.
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Ultimately, despite a few picky flaws, Daisy And The Jones is an entertaining and fun ride, and is destined to hit the top of the charts.
If you need us, we'll be putting on our flared-sleeve dresses and dancing in a field to Aurora's 'Honeycomb'.
Daisy Jones And The Six launches Friday, 3 March and continues weekly on Prime Video. Watch a trailer below.