The Mars Volta Doc Trailer Traces Heartbreak, Betrayal, and Redemption

Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, which first premiered at South by Southwest in March, is heading to select theaters nationally on Nov. 20 via Oscilloscope Laboratories. The documentary focuses on bandmates and friends Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s lives and musical partnerships in seminal bands including the Mars Volta and At the Drive-In. The Nicolas Jack Davies-directed documentary incorporates thousands of hours of footage culled by Rodríguez-López.

The new trailer Rolling Stone exclusively premieres here gives a peek into the musicians’ four-decade musical partnership and friendship, highlighting their commitment to one another, but also the ways in which even lifelong friends can brutally destroy one another, lose their way, and ultimately through love find a way back, even in the darkest moments. In other words, it explores the humanity in us all.

At the height of their achievements, it’s asked in the clip, “[When] the human connection falls apart, is that really success?”

It’s an illuminating look at how the duo’s creative process worked behind-the-scenes. The feature includes their work in At the Drive-In, which explodes and implodes on the screen in the doc, and their exhilarating formation of the Mars Volta, where they began making the music the outsiders from El Paso had always wanted to make — incorporating their Latino backgrounds and allowing them to experiment, attracting the affectionate “weirdos.”   

The documentary is a satisfying look for fans who’ve craved insight behind their bands, creative development, lineup changes, and breakups.

“We understand people will have direct questions for us, but we just point them to Nick’s film which holds all of the answers,” Rodríguez-López tells Rolling Stone. “These answers are given more precisely and elegantly in the film than we could ever put into words. We invite the world to watch and reach their own conclusions.”
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He added: “We are grateful to Nick and his film, for treating us as people and not as objects.”
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But even for those unfamiliar with the incredible intensity of their music and live sets, their candid personal stories are engrossing, with each sharing their battles with racism, being outcasts, drug addictions, devastating deaths, betrayals, and a turn with Scientology (Bixler-Zavala’s wife Chrissie is one of the women who accused That ‘70s Show actor Danny Masterson of rape), before ultimately finding redemption.

Director Davies tells Rolling Stone, “A good friend of mine said he watched the film and it made him think about all of his past relationships, which to me was the best thing anyone can take out of it, as at the heart of the film is a love story between Omar and Cedric that I guess wrestles with how difficult it is to grow and stay together through a lifetime, how much can go wrong and how much can go right. And there’s much to learn from their extraordinary lives which isn’t that extraordinary at all — it’s just human.”