Based on the best-selling novel and Reese's Book Club Pick by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the musical-drama series from Amazon Studios and Hello Sunshine premieres March 3 on Prime Video. Video / Amazon
Review by Lillie Rohan
Lillie Rohan is an Entertainment Writer for New Zealand’s Herald and host of It’s a Date podcast.
In 2019, Taylor Jenkins Reid released Daisy Jones & The Six, a novel that would quickly capture the attention of what has become known as “Booktok” – or for those of you unfamiliar with Gen Z terms, the book side of TikTok.
Perhaps it was the unique transcript style of writing that captured readers’ attention. Or maybe it was the storyline itself, a retelling of the rise and fall of a renowned 1970s rock band that had many questioning if it was an unofficial retelling of Fleetwood Mac’s glory days.
While initially, you would shake your head no, it’s not possible, the more you read, the harder it became to deny the parallels between Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne’s love story and Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s. Both were tumultuous relationships and both created some of music’s biggest hits, but also the destruction of one of music’s most iconic bands.
Alas, the truth - which was revealed this week - is that the story of Daisy and Billy’s romance, or lack thereof, was inspired by Fleetwood Mac but remains completely fictional. Reid has no more insight than the rest of us.
“When I decided I wanted to write a book about rock ‘n’ roll, I kept coming back to that moment when Lindsey watched Stevie sing Landslide [on The Dance],” Reid said while speaking to the show’s Reece Witherspoon-owned production company, Hello Sunshine. She added,“I wanted to write a story about that, about how the lines between real life and performance can get blurred, about how singing about old wounds might keep them fresh.”
So does Prime’s nostalgic new series, Daisy Jones & The Six meet expectations? Or is it another book-turned-series that flops harder than After?
The opening scene is a perfect taster of what’s to come. We are shown longing glances between characters you’ve pictured in your head too many times, a nostalgic feel and an overwhelming itch to grab your phone and listen to the fictional band’s music as if they truly existed.
Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) is the first to enter the shot. Sitting down for an interview, it’s immediately clear, this man, this character is one with a story to tell. A story that he maybe never wanted to.
Sam Claflin (Billy), Camila Morrone (Camila). Photo / Amazon Prime
Like the book, Billy is a character who has baggage and that fact is very clear from the moment you meet him. He looks weathered like the years have finally caught up on him.
We go on to meet the rest of the band including Billy’s sweetheart brother Graham Dunne (Will Harrison), the laid-back drummer you can’t help but love, Warren Rhodes (Sebastian Chacon), the bass player with a chip on his shoulder, Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse), the effortlessly cool bada**, Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse) and Billy’s partner, also known as the glue that holds everyone together, Camila Dunne (Camila Morrone).
Then finally, we are introduced to Daisy Jones (Riley Keough, the notable granddaughter of Elvis Presley). She’s the captivating, rebellious, and ambitious protagonist, who is every aspect of the 70s era neatly wrapped up and put into a character.
The first three episodes of the show are a rather slow burn, but it’s worth persevering because by episodes four and five, you’re hooked. If not for the storyline then at least for the costumes, set design and of course, characters.
Josh Whitehouse (Eddie), Will Harrison (Graham), Sebastian Chacon (Warren), Suki Waterhouse (Karen), Tom Wright (Teddy). Photo / Amazon Prime
From the men’s long untamed hair to the women’s effortlessly chic outfits and all the sex, drugs and rock and roll in between, watching the 10-part series - that will be released in multi-episode blocks until March 24 - feels as though you are briefly time travelling to an age where all that mattered was following your dreams.
However, there was natural scepticism when the cast was first announced. Questions of whether Keough and Claflin, would be able to bring to life Daisy and Billy’s atomic chemistry. But now that it’s come to life, it’s clear, the choices were nothing short of perfection.
Keough brings an edge to Daisy that was unwritten in the book. She’s a larger-than-life character, playing by her own rules, in a world that is almost entirely of her own fantasy.
The ambition needed to take on such a role would be daunting to some but for Keough, it looks effortless, almost as if Daisy was written for her – with Reid, the book’s author even saying the same.
Meanwhile, Claflin portrays the pained, tragic character of Billy who barely talks about his struggles but says them with every look, every strum of the guitar, and every move he makes.
It takes an experienced and talented actor to portray such intense emotions without the aid of expressive dialogue but the star did it with ease. And it was perhaps due to the overlap of his personal life with the fictional life of Billy.
In a recent interview with the Telegraph, he revealed he was going through a relationship break-up before they started filming and said there were many ways in which he could relate to Billy. Which way exactly remains unclear but the star sold his character’s pull between right and wrong so effortlessly.
Riley Keough (Daisy) and Sam Claflin (Billy) in Daisy Jones & the Six. Photo / Amazon Prime
He tells the story of a man desperately trying not to fall in love with one of the most charismatic women of their time, battling urges of addiction, and the pressure he put on himself to be great. On top of all of that, he was also trying to be the best husband he could be to Camila and father to their daughter.
Daisy and Billy take up a lot of screentime in the series, which is to be expected, the story after all is mostly about their magnetic pull which Keough and Claflin portray so convincingly. But like the book, we also follow the lives of other characters including the band, Daisy’s best friend Simone (Nabiyah Be) who becomes a trailblazer in the disco scene, Teddy Price (Tom Wright), the producer who ultimately brings Daisy and The Six together and helps them rise to fame, and Rod (Timothy Olyphant), the classic 1970′s tour manager.
At first glance, the series is a tragic love story of two people who might ultimately be right for each other but met at a time when their addictions, unresolved feelings from their childhood and inability to pursue their feelings means they cannot be together. But broaden your gaze to include each character’s story, the music and the 70s nostalgia and the series is a compelling watch containing so much more than a complex love story.
It’s of ambition, friendships, passion and a story of how fame, money and dreams aren’t worth losing yourself and the people you love.
Overall, Daisy Jones & The Six in series form is something that could have easily failed but in reality, hits better than the book ever could. And perhaps the moment that most solidifies this fact comes in the final episode which leaves you lying on the floor sobbing and wanting to flick right back to the first episode so you can watch it all again.
Rating: 8/10
Daisy Jones & The Six is available to stream on Amazon Prime from Friday, March 3.
