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Who are Dream Wife? British rock band accuses Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa of copying MV for duo's collab 'Prisoner'

Fans of Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa were angered when Dream Wife pointed out similarities between the visuals of the music video for 'Prisoner' to one of their own videos

Fans of Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa were angered when Dream Wife, a British band, pointed out similarities between the visuals of the music video for 'Prisoner' to one of their own videos. Tweeting out the YouTube link to their song 'So When You Gonna...', Dream Wife wrote, "The new Miley vid looks familiar...those pearly LA white teeth need some grit though. ROFL," followed by, "There’s even an Alice look alike." Dream Wife shared the screenshot from both their own and Miley and Dua's 'Prisoner' video of a POV shot from inside the mouth. The music video of Dream Wife's 'So When You Gonna...' premiered on May 20, 2020.

As soon as Dream Wife tweeted out this visual similarity, many fans of Miley and Dua flooded the replies accusing Dream Wife of chasing clout and trying to become relevant. One fan wrote, "It is inspired by the 1986 movie. Stop hating women," while another said, "not you acting as they know about you LMAO." There were also those who defended Dream Wife, like one fan of the band that said, "You realize that Dream Wife created their most recent album without working with men because of the gender imbalance in the industry? But sure yeah they hate women."

The 1986 movie that 'Prisoner' is inspired by, according to fans, is 'Little Shop of Horrors'. The film, which is considered to be a cult classic, has a very similar stylistic scene where a POV shot has been taken from inside the mouth, as seen in the two music videos above. 'Little Shop of Horrors', directed by Frank Oz, is a film adaptation of the 1982 off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman. There's also a 1960 adaptation of the same titled 'The Little Shop of Horrors' directed by Roger Corman. The 1986 movie starred Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin and Levi Stubbs and featured special appearances by Jim Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Bill Murray.

Stating this fact, a fan tweeted, "I think it’s one thing to take stylistic inspiration from something such as the POV from inside of a mouth in 'Little Shop of Horrors' but to rip off a music video frame for the frame is another thing altogether."

Who are Dream Wife?

Dream Wife are a London-based rock band that create a mixture of punk rock, pop and indie rock. The band consists of Rakel Mjöll (lead vocals), Alice Go (guitar, vocals) and Bella Podpadec (bass, vocals). In 2018, Dream Wife were included on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 'The 13 Best Things We Saw' at that year's Lollapalooza music festival. Kev Geoghegan and Paul Glynn of BBC Music called Dream Wife "a jaw-dropping live act and one of the most talked-about new bands of 2018," while Joe Lynch of Billboard wrote, "Dream Wife is inarguably one of the most exhilarating live rock bands to emerge within the last few years."

Dream Wife got their name from the 1953 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Their lyrics often tackle issues related to feminism, gender roles, body image and sexual objectification. Members of the band have cited influences such as Be Your Own Pet, Sleigh Bells, Le Tigre, Debbie Harry, Grimes, David Bowie and Madonna. During their live shows, they are known to enact a "b***hes-to-the-front" policy where they ask the audience to allow women who wish to mosh together to move closer to the stage. They have released two albums, 'Dream Wife' and 'So When You Gonna...'.