The Weeknd isn't a stranger to horror. His music videos draw upon the genre, and he's often cited iconic horror directors as main influences in terms of visual inspirations. So, it's no surprise that his debut as a lead in a feature film is a psychological horror movie. The only problem is that Hurry Up Tomorrow is all about The Weeknd and very little else, making for a painful, self-indulgent experience with one too many cringeworthy moments.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, essentially plays himself. During the film's opening, he struggles over a painful breakup. Details are murky, but it's clear that he hurt his ex. Desperate to get her back, he can hardly perform and resorts to booze and drugs to numb the pain. His manager and long-time friend, Lee, played by the stellar Barry Keoghan, doesn't help matters. He encourages the iconic star to keep performing, even when a doctor tells him that his vocal cords need rest. Yet, he keeps pushing and pushing his body to the limits, until he freezes on stage before thousands of fans and suddenly can't sing.
The film takes a sharp turn when The Weeknd encounters Jenna Ortega's mysterious character Anima. Early in the film, we see her douse a house with gasoline and then burn it down. It's never stated, though, whose house she torched, though there are hints it may have belonged to her father. At one point, she gives a monologue explaining how her old man bailed on her and her mom when she was younger. Still, like a lot of the film, Anima's story has massive narrative holes.
The Weeknd locks eyes with Anima at one of his concerts, invites her back to a swanky hotel, and then tries to boot her the next morning. However, the film takes another left turn, veering into Misery territory. This is when the movie becomes all kinds of cringeworthy and unintentionally funny. There's even a long sequence where Ortega's character plays The Weeknd's songs, dances around the hotel room, and then deconstructs them while he's tied to a bed. At one point, she even tells him, "Maybe you're the toxic one." Dialogue isn't exactly this film's strong suit. There's another sequence when The Weeknd suddenly bursts into song, and though his voice sounds absolutely beautiful in the moment, it comes at such an awkward moment that again, it's likely to draw more laughs.
Like The Weeknd's music videos, the film contains some dazzling and haunting visuals. However, the horror sequences, which mostly play out as nightmare scenarios, do little to nothing to advance the paper-thin plot. They're creepy, but that's about it. It's in these pure genre sequences that flashes of director Trey Edward Shults' earlier films, especially It Comes at Night, become most apparent. But then the film soon returns to The Weeknd's drug-fueled reality and his struggles to maintain his massive pop star status.
Everyone in Hurry Up Tomorrow is super talented, which makes this film such a head-scratcher. It comes across as pompous in even some of its best moments and incredibly cheesy and unintentionally laugh-out-loud funny in its worst moments. It also has very little narrative, and at times, feels like one long music video. I suspect even The Weeknd's biggest fans may be turned off by this venture.
Hurry Up Tomorrow is currently playing in theaters.