Recently released at the start of August, Woodstock Or Bust drew us in from the minute we watched the trailer. The film was officially released to streaming services on August 12, 2019, and we loved this film from beginning to end. Willow Shields (The Hunger Games – as Primrose Everden, The Unsettling, Spinning Out) and Meg DeLacy (The Fosters, F*&% the Prom) star as our main characters, Lorian and Meryl respectively, and they really display their friendship throughout.
It is the year 1969, the film takes the viewers on a journey of a duo who love to sing but are bored with their small-time gigs in their small little town. So, they decide to go on an adventure to attempt to get bigger audiences and hopefully make their dreams come true and turn it into a career. It’s an aspiring story for all and one that has many twists and turns throughout.
In the opening scene, we are introduced to Lorian and Meryl. They’re performing at small little events, showcasing their musical ability – and they sure are brilliant singers. The first scene shows Meryl’s mother, Sophia played by Lisa Skvarla (The Collectibles, Divine Shadow), introducing them to a room of people, but it’s clear Sophia doesn’t take an interest or even support her daughter in her music, regardless of how talented both girls are. More scenes continue, showcasing their aspirations and the other events they perform at.
Soon enough, they stumble across a poster for Woodstock and decide to hatch a plan to go there and persuade the organisers to give them a spot on the line-up, probably at the end while everyone is leaving. It’s a crazy idea but one they believe in and a goal for them to reach towards. The perfect opportunity to do so comes up when Sophia tells Meryl and Lorian they ought to go to a Christian summer camp – even though Lorian is Jewish, and so it takes her some time to persuade her mother, Irene played by Brandie Sylfae (Bloodmoon, Dusk To Dusk). Of course, instead of going to this Christian camp, they head to Woodstock.
There are so many twists and turns throughout their journey to Woodstock. Considering how the film starts with these two innocent 17-year-olds, the journey puts them through their paces from picking up various hitchhikers – have they never heard of stranger danger? – to going to see a seedy mechanic. They do make a friend on the way, Nick who they knew as Mick like Mick Jagger for some time until they realise he’s actually just called Nick; he is played by newcomer Teddy Van Ee; and how can we forget about the stint in jail during a brilliant scene with fellow prisoner, Sheelah played by Jennifer Lanier (Chapter Perfect, Scrapper).
This is one coming-of-age film like no other and the trajectory of small-town young girls going on an adventure with unbelievable, yet very real, twists and turns make Woodstock Or Bust a total must-see. The only thing that this film is lacking is an official digital soundtrack release on streaming services. The amount of amazing songs we hear throughout makes us wish we could add those tracks to our Spotify or our Apple Music, or any other music streaming service – such as Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Google Play Music. However, the soundtrack has been released on CD Baby Music Store – we are so getting this!
Woodstock Or Bust has been directed by Leslie Bloom, who also acted as the executive producer, and she is also listed as the co-writer alongside Judi Blaze. Martin Wiley acts as the producer and the music for the film is by Blair Borland. It has been produced by Big Kid Films whilst it has been distributed by TriCoast Studios, and ChromaColor dealt with the post-production. The film also stars Corey Brunish, Christopher Kozak, Elijah Stevenson, Rachelle Henry, Michael E. Bell, Ella DeVito, Brian Sutherland, Nathan Parrott, Sandra Doolittle, James F. Leo, and many more.
This film is available to watch on digitally on streaming services. We urge you to go and watch it, it really is a must-see.