The perpetually nice weather of Los Angeles has always been a watering grounds for films and television, and there is absolutely no reason that this shouldn’t hold true for music videos as well. And in the new music video by the xx for “I Dare You” from their last album I See You, Belgian fashion designer and Calvin Klein’s Chief Creative Officer Raf Simons has teamed up with Alasdair McLellan to capture the beauty of the city of angels.
The video is essentially a suburban set of mini-film that clocks in at just over six minutes. Apparently Simons had been a long-time fan of the band, and was drawn to creatively collaborate after seeing McLellan’s other xx videos for “On Hold” and “Say Something Loving.”
The video mainly stars Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things fame, where Brown is staring at the sky pretending to read a vision chart, and misses her school bus. She returns to overhear her older sister cancelling some plans with her boyfriend to deal with her sibling, but Brown, not wanting to be left out, blackmails her sister into taking her with.
At this point, the video turns into a worshipping ground for Los Angeles, with a bizarre mix of L.A.’s landmarks, idyllic front lawns of a perfect shade of green, as well as a fair share of notable architectural structures. The group ends up at the Sowden House (rumored to be the site of the Black Dahlia murder). Unable to avoid classic 80’s movies clichés, the group enters the “haunted” house, only to be met a private pool where British indie band The xx just happen to be performing for a crowd of zero people.
The entire experience is a chic, albeit played out, take on young adolescent love. Two pairs of teens make romance eyes at each other while a fifth teen feels devastated — the classic story of adolescence, and conveyed beautifully here with a nice song and rich colors.
And, of course, as can be expected with anything Simons gets his hands on, the cast is impeccably dressed in the latest from Calvin Klein. We may have finally reached peak cool with this one.
Paris Jackson and Ashton Sanders also show up in the video as the other half of the double date.
Check out the full video below.
Photo Credit: Kalyn Oyer
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