The Pitch: There are so many reasons Fleetwood Mac have remained one of the bands people talk about to this day — great music is one of them, of course, but the addictive allure of personal drama and behind-the-scenes tension is certainly another. Daisy Jones & the Six, the 2019 novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, explores a similar phenomenon. What could cause a band to dissolve at the very top of their game?
This Amazon adaptation of the book presents the following introduction as the cast gets seated for talking head-style interviews: “On October 4th, 1977, Daisy Jones & the Six performed to a sold-out crowd at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. It would be their final performance.” We’re then introduced to Daisy (Riley Keough, a powerhouse), Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), and the members of the Six — Billy’s brother, Graham (a very lovable Will Harrison), Karen (Suki Waterhouse), Eddie (Josh Whitehouse), and Warren (a truly delightful Sebastian Chacon).
The ten-episode saga takes us through the band’s humble origins, which run in parallel to Daisy’s early days pursuing music, chronicling the connection, quick rise, and even faster fall of what is presented to us as “the biggest band in the world.”
Look At Us Now: The adaptation, produced by Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine, excels in its truly inspired casting. From the jump, the sparks that fly between Keough (yes, the real-life granddaughter of Elvis Presley) and Claflin as Daisy and Billy are enough to keep any viewer engaged, whether or not they’re familiar with the source material. Musician and actress Suki Waterhouse is a joy as Karen, seeming as comfortable onstage behind the keyboard as she is moving through Karen’s more emotional beats.
The band’s backdrop is filled out by Timothy Olyphant as sun-dried road manager Rod and Tom Wright as storied producer Teddy Price, along with disco singer Simone Jackson (relative newcomer Nabiyah Be, who carries the expanded story for the “best friend of Daisy” character with believability and grace).
Then, there’s Camila Morrone, unbelievably beautiful and unbelievably sympathetic as Camila, rockstar Billy Dunne’s young, forgiving, dependable other half. Some of the best tweaks from the book are in Camila’s characterization, who was already more than the dutiful housewife in the book, but here serves an even bigger role in the band’s early momentum.
Daisy Jones and the Six (Prime Video)
