Every so often, a musical artist creates a movie. Occasionally, the movie, in this case, Hurry Up Tomorrow, comes out as a companion piece, supporting an album. Sometimes this works – and sometimes this doesn’t. One of the most successful was Prince’s movie, Purple Rain. As a companion piece to his 1984 album, it definitely cemented him as one of the top artists in musical history. The Weeknd released the album Hurry Up Tomorrow earlier this year, and the movie recently came out. Unfortunately, the cinematic effort hasn’t translated well.
Hurry Up Tomorrow as a Musical Endeavor
The Weeknd released the album Hurry Up Tomorrow at the start of the year to positive reviews. It placed at the top of the charts in North America, including Canada. Singles from it, “Timeless” and “Cry for Me” have done very well. The initial album, with 22 songs, has collaborations with Playboi Carti, Anitta, Travis Scott, and Florence and the Machine. Famed Italian composer Giorgio Moroder also has a cameo with the song ‘Timeless.’
The Weeknd Releases the Film Hurry Up Tomorrow
The film of the same name was released in mid-May. It was directed by Trey Edward Shults, who wrote it with the artist and Reza Fahim. It follows Abel Tesfaye, who plays himself, struggling with depression after a recent breakup and also coping with the loss of his voice.
Jenna Ortega stars as a stan (stalker fan) Anima, and Irish actor Barry Keoghan as The Weeknd’s manager, Lee. Without giving away too much of the plot, the film goes back-and-forth with The Weeknd’s interactions with Anima and what Lee requires of him. On a serious side, the film delves into matters, such as anxiety, bad break-ups, and the façade of show business.
Though the film brings weighty issues to the forefront, it does very little to tackle any real storyline. Hurry Up Tomorrow shows The Weeknd’s turmoil through bizarre, dizzying camera angles and flashing lights. (‘Blinding Lights,’ anyone?) The other characters of Anima and Lee are portrayed reasonably well by Ortega and Keoghan, but offer very little to forwarding the plot.
Hurry Up Tomorrow Doesn’t Hurry Box Office Sales
Unfortunately the aritst and his film have not made great profits at the box office. Besides being a plotless and photographically strange pride project, the film merely serves as a conceited piece of somewhat avant-garde art.
Numbers for the film have been fairly abysmal. After a budget of roughly $15 million, the movie has grossed just over a third of that amount. It shows not all musical artists should be working in film. It’s not as depressing as 2005’s Kurt Cobain-centered flick Last Days, but it comes close. Hurry Up Tomorrow should hurry The Weeknd back to making music.
