OFF THE RECORD (2025) - Mark Reviews Movies

Off the Record, Quiver Distribution

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 1, 2025

Nothing about Off the Record feels especially convincing—not its initial romance, not its depiction of a toxic relationship, not its takedown of sexism in the music industry. Writer/director Kirsten Foe clearly has big and decent intentions with this movie, which is mostly hampered by its rushed storytelling and the strange way so much of it feels intentionally or accidentally jokey.

In theory, this is serious subject matter. It follows Astor Grey (Rainey Qualley), an aspiring musician in Los Angeles who makes some money performing gigs and a little more acting in commercials. She has keep doing the acting to pay the rent on the houseboat where she lives, and all things considered, the choice between doing what she really loves or maintaining a relatively cushy job that a lot of people struggle to maintain isn't exactly the sort of down-to-earth problem that's instantly relatable.

One night, famous musician Brandyn Verge (Ryan Hansen) sees one of Astor's live performances at a small club and shares some video of it on his social media account. He also sends Astor a message, asking if she wants to meet, and after her best friend Noelle (Olivia Sui) convinces her that she might at least have some fun sleeping with a rock star, Astor agrees.

All of this happens, by the way, before we even meet any of these characters in any non-superficial way. There's no sense of Astor's toil to have a music career on her own (Then again, the specifics make it seem as if she doesn't really have many problems beyond not being successful or famous enough). There's no concept of the character, really, apart from her profession and some vague notion of her aspirations, so at least the initial section of the story gets at one idea: Astor's meeting and subsequent relationship with Brandyn comes across as a broad sort of wish-fulfillment scenario.

The two spend a considerable but unspecified amount of time together, driving around town, talking about various personal and business matters, discussing music, and occasionally having sex. Everything seems fine enough, except that the entirety of their bond is so shallow and its supposed significance is so instantaneous that it's tough to buy it as Foe wants us to. Brandyn says he loves her, and after a bit, Astor says she loves him, too. From what happens and is said later, we're supposed to actually believe that she believes that about his feelings and her own, as well.

The fantasy shatters, though, when Brandyn reveals he's little more than a petty, controlling, and vindictive sort of guy. Astor sticks around—again, because we're meant to believe that she actually loves him—and thinks Brandyn is sincere when he says he wants to boost her career. It's strange that the movie seems to think that the effects of this psychologically abusive man, who blames everyone but himself for his many problems and even falsely threatens suicide when Astor doesn't drop everything to see him, are perceived entirely from a professional level. It doesn't matter so much what he does Astor personally, compared to the false promises he makes, the manipulative tactics he takes, and the cutthroat manner in which he tries to undermine or ruin Astor's career.

The movie is so business-oriented that its characters really do feel even more shallow as the story progresses. Astor has to contend with a bad contract, which Brandyn calls completely ordinary, with the help of her manager Kate (Rebecca De Mornay). She loses the rights to her own songs and, in a completely contrived arrangement, has to join Brandyn on a European tour in exchange for getting the rights to those tunes returned to her. By this point, Astor knows exactly how terrible the guy is on a personal level and a professional one, both from firsthand experience and after hearing stories of how this is a pattern of behavior for him. It's disingenuous and counterproductive to the ultimate goal of the movie to force this character into such an unlikely position, since she should know by now that there's nothing to gain from sticking with Brandyn but plenty more for her to lose.

Unsurprisingly, that's exactly what happens. At a certain point, we have to wonder why Foe has put this seemingly well-meaning thesis about the treatment of women in the music business into the over-the-top, unbelievable experiences of a character who gradually starts to seem as if a lot these problems could have been avoided. Off the Record has some good points to make, but it's simply making them by way of a story that doesn't hold up to any thought.

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