The Weeknd’s New Film, Hurry Up Tomorrow, Releases Next Month
One of the more out-there shows in the last few years was The Idol, the HBO show created by The Weeknd and starring Lily-Rose Depp. Now the artist is back with a follow-up of sorts, Hurry Up Tomorrow, a new film set to release later this year.
Starring The Weeknd as a fictional version of himself alongside both Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, it’s a “musical psychological thriller” that follows The Weeknd on the verge of a mental breakdown. Here’s all we know so far?
What is Hurry Up Tomorrow about?
Hurry Up Tomorrow shares its name and similar themes with The Weeknd’s latest studio album, released back in January, and many of the songs are set to be featured in the film. It’s sort of autobiographical, focusing on a fictionalised version of Abel Tesfaye/The Weeknd, who is, as in real life, a hugely successful popstar, but is still quite different from the real person. The fictional Abel is under pressure from the strain of his relentless touring schedule, moving from city to city while suffering increasingly difficult mental problems. The plot is partly inspired by an incident when the (real) Abel lost his voice while on tour several years ago, and is an “interpretation” of what may have happened if he’d lost everything in life.
Plagued by insomnia, Abel begins to fall onto the verge of a mental breakdown, and is at a crossroads in his life when he meets a fan named Anima, who is a total stranger, played by Jenna Ortega. The enigmatic Anima joins Abel as they both go on a deep, nightmarish journey that will reveal parts of him and the core of his existence that he had no idea existed, leading him to question everything he knows about his life. Not much is known about Barry Keoghan’s role, but he appears to be playing some kind of assistant or confidant to Abel, trying to keep him from going off the rails. The official trailers have been pretty enigmatic so far, revealing little about the plot but instead showcasing the visual flair of the cinematography and Abel’s increasing paranoia after meeting Anima.
What else do we know, and is there a release date?
The film is directed and co-written by Trey Edward Shults, who previously directed It Comes At Night and Waves, and is set to release in UK cinemas on 16th May, with a streaming release later.
