Selling out So-Fi Stadium is every artist’s dream. The massive field, home to the L.A. Rams and Chargers, has hosted iconic names in music over the years such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Beyoncé, and is one of the most attractive concert venues along the West Coast.
This previous summer, K-Pop act Stray Kids joined the ranks of these infamous performers, attracting just under 100,000 fans over the course of two nights (May 31st/June 1st of 2025) in a quite literally ground-shaking concert.
On that eventful night, they also had the privilege of recording a concert movie that dropped on February 6th, 2026. The film, titled The Stray Kids DominATE Experience (named after their EP, “ATE”), grossed over 19 million dollars in its opening weekend, topping the box office. Screenings are currently occurring in various AMC and Cinemark locations, and is available for preorder in digital format on Amazon Prime and Fandango At Home. And it can be said, with confidence, that it’s certainly an experience worth having.
There’s nothing that can beat a live concert, but none of the explosive energy Stray Kids’s fandom has come to expect was muted by the barrier of a screen. Their feature opened with their performance of the dynamic hit “MOUNTAINS,” immediately immersing you into the atmosphere of the show with an impressive show of camera work.
Sometimes, however, the production went over the top in a way that took away from the enjoyment and quality of the performance. I personally felt that although the actual videography of the film did the energy of the concert justice, there were moments that were disorienting. One scene of note was during the band’s performance of MANIAC, when the drone that was filming flipped over the top of the stage in a way that was borderline dizzying. An unfortunate creative choice, seeing as the song is among their “big break” releases, and you can count on their execution of it to stand on its own as a performance without excessively fancy drone footage. MANIAC is a concert staple that sadly deserved more thought to how they visually covered it.
Of course, a 2+ hour long concert movie can get monotonous. The filmmakers cleverly avoided this trap by sprinkling in interviews with the individual members between chunks of the concert. While the interviews were a cute look at the performer’s personalities, they weren’t as full of behind the scenes content as some of the trailers would lead you to believe. As an estimate, each of the eight band members probably got around 5-7 minutes of interview content, and some of the footage in these interviews were videos that were already readily available online from various social media platforms. It was somewhat of a letdown overall, particularly as the trailers led fans to believe they would see more of the work that went into preparing the concert.
All that being said, it was difficult to focus on a review-minded watch during my screening because the energy inside the theatre was so contagious. It was incredibly easy to get swept away by the cheering and brilliant firework displays on screen, as well as the buzzing energy of the fans inside the theatre. The inclusion of fan shots on screen promoted the same atmosphere of anticipation and excitement one would expect attending a live performance within the theatre, and that feeling was evident in the people around me.
The DominATE Experience was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in a theatre in quite some time, between the community I briefly shared with fellow fans and the stunning execution of the production team. So, if you’re looking for a dazzling show of performance prowess, or even just a fun time, start hunting for some tickets.
