Hurry Up Tomorrow – REVIEW

Abel Tesfaye in Hurry Up Tomorrow


What I like to show in these reviews is an exercise in bias. Every single person has their own bias to something, whether they realize it or not. I feel like I’ve stated this in at least one other review on this site, but let me promise you this: The statement “exercise in bias” will permeate throughout this review, mainly because of this movie’s star/driving force. I like Abel Tesfaye, who grew to popularity as his stage name The Weeknd, a lot. The man’s got insane musical talent, and as I think you know, he’s not a great actor. Some people say that he isn’t an actor at all. If you don’t know, Tesfaye has already tried acting in the HBO series The Idol, which was a massive disaster for nearly everybody involved. You know a show is bad when they cut the last episode and gaslight everyone into thinking that it was 5 episodes instead of 6 the whole time (yes, that’s real). However, it’s not to say that he won’t quit. This movie here, Hurry Up Tomorrow, shares the name of The Weeknd’s newest album, which is his last as “The Weeknd.” Essentially, Hurry Up Tomorrow is acting as the end of an era for Tesfaye, but is it really an end? In terms of its story, Hurry Up Tomorrow is a reimagining of Stephen King’s Misery as a psychological horror movie, where The Weeknd is pushed to his limits both physically and mentally on his latest tour, on top of a crazed fan abducting him. That’s really where the script stops, which is where director Trey Edward Shults comes in. I personally can’t say that Hurry Up Tomorrow is the best-directed movie of the year in a year that had Sinners and Warfare, but Shults is the shining star here, nailing the immersion with constantly-moving one take shots and the disorienting sound design. Electronic producer Oneohtrix Point Never is also a key player, with his haunting score drowning the screen. The best example of this is an extended scene in a nightclub, which might be one of my favorite scenes of this year. Outside of Tesfaye, there are only two other actors here: Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Ortega is pretty great here in the Annie Wilkes role, to pull the Misery comparison again. It feels like she took a lot of creative liberties for this role, and most of them land on their feet. This is probably the best performance I’ve seen from her yet, but it’s the exact opposite for Keoghan, who I usually enjoy. Unlike Ortega and Tesfaye, Keoghan as The Weeknd’s manager feels like he’s trying too hard. He’s the one with the least screen-time out of the main actors, so maybe Keoghan is just trying to make the most out of his character. Tesfaye, though, sits squarely in the middle. Maybe it’s because he’s playing himself, or at least a heightened version of himself, but as someone who really criticized him for his acting on The Idol, he’s definitely made some improvements. He has some really good moments, but I wouldn’t lie when I say that the character could be a lot more impactful if a different actor were in Tesfaye’s role. That leads right into probably my biggest problem with the movie, which I believe is what’s setting off a lot of the negative reviews: the script is very thin. It’s not that it’s a “vibe” movie, but this isn’t a new story and it’s not really written in an interesting way. All of the interesting choices mainly come from Trey Edward Shults’s direction and Jenna Ortega’s role, which really elevate the movie for me. I’d love to see Shults and Ortega work together again in the future, actually. Hurry Up Tomorrow may be so thin story-wise that you can see right through what it’s trying to say, but the craft here is so strong that I really can’t deny Shults as a director here.


Ryan’s Grade: A-