Hurry Up Tomorrow follows a fictionalized version of Abel Tesfaye (or The Weeknd) as he is stuck in a world tour after his girlfriend breaks up with him–and it was not mutual. After losing his voice due to stress during a performance, he decides to escape the typical partying with his manger Lee and their crew to wander the streets with a stranger that he meets (Jenna Ortega). The two end up on a journey of discovery and connection that will change both of their lives forever.

The set up is both visually stunning and interesting. Lots of great work is done in that department with fascinating camera movements, long takes, frantic editing, abstract lighting and club lighting that really help set the mood of the first half. This contrasts well with the more subtle and simple visual palate of the second half  becomes more sobering in its approach.

Hurry Up is a sonic experience that I was grateful to have experienced in a theatre. The sound mixing was done by Oscar winner Johnnie Burn. As a hybrid visual album, he takes us in and out of the music to different volumes and moments seamlessly. The original score by Daniel Lopatin, with contributions by The Weeknd, is very well done. It brings you in and out of his music and into a really synth-heavy score that matches his music but also sounds very different at times. A very eclectic group of cords and melodies that, while not memorable in of themselves, set the tone well. While not their best use of production, the music is very immersive and engaging to listen to. Combined with interesting visuals, it is a full cinematic experience.

There are admirable performances in the film but Barry Keoghan has been much more interesting than his character in this film. They purposefully leave him very open as a character and we do not even get an inkling of what he is actually like, besides his relationship with The Weeknd. In some ways it fails the Weeknd Test in that eveyr character that exists is centered around The Weeknd. In that way, I can understand why many will call this an ego-maniac project, despite my thinking that there is a bit more to it. All the characters, except for Ortega and The Weeknd, get little to no detail and it instead is fine, circling its musical lead.

Ultimately though, Hurry Up Tomorrow is a lot like all of his music. It leaves you with the sense that there is strong emotions and everything about the presentation makes you think there is more. It goes for more surreal and interpretative scenes in a plot that does not really naturally for that idea. The ideas that are implied about loneliness, fame and heartbreak are left to the abstract scenes, making the moments that tackle it head on not as interesting when compared to the ambition of the abstract scenes. 

The film also has some comedy that pokes fun at music critics and obsessed fans. The Weeknd even pokes fun at himself on some ways as this film, as more than some music biopics are able to look at themselves a bit critically. It actually manages to laugh at himself in a way that The Idol, Abel’s last cinematic venture, never did. While in The Idol, he was really trying to act and never let himself be seen as the joke within the story, here he is actually looking at his flaws as a person and reconciling the funny, insane parts of being famous. It is maybe not done with the best delivery or approach, considering all the other scenes that came before it which imply something more dramatic. But the sobering second act does get the idea of escape and reflection right, even if its themes of heartbreak and honesty that it sets up are mostly ignored. Maybe that is on purpose or maybe The Weeknd thought he was doing some really dramatic and heartfelt acting in the second half. Either way, it makes the message present but not as effective as they probably intended. 

You do get the feeling that Abel uses his music to work through mistakes that he has made but then he presents them in a way that, for a full length film, is hard to tolerate. Many scenes and shots feel like they should be cut short but are continued for the sake of art? A lot of what was written in the script (which is fairly short, I’m sure) is kept in and lasts longer than you would imagine is normally reasonable for a studio project. But with The Weeknd at the helm, alongside Trey Edward Shults, they clearly indulged in each other’s generally weaker tendencies. The result is a very interesting film but one that is too messy and devoid of structure to communicate to its audience what it is actually focused on. Some may say that it is just a dream that The Weeknd has after losing his voice about the ambitious career-focused version of him represented by his manager Lee (Barry Keoghan) and that Anima (Jenna Ortega) represents his troubled younger self that he has never worked with in therapy.

It’s possible that The Weeknd was intending for this new album to not just be a vague hint at the heartbreak and struggle that he has experienced but, instead, an opportunity for him to express some of his true emotions and confront his actual life experiences. The film doesn’t really do that for me. It may for some but I get the feeling it will not for a lot of people.

If you have seen the trailer you will be left waiting for more to happen. The film does not make many turns beyond the plot description. So, if you value a plot full of twists and turns, then you will not likely get as much as you want out of the story. The film is very much focused on the sound, which is mostly centered around the Weeknd’s songs. (Thus, if you don’t love his music, you also may not get a lot out of this film.) My headline is not meant to imply this film is devoid of story but the way it is structured and edited shows that it is a lot more interested in delivering a sonic experience than a complex and twisting plot.

Hurry Up Tomorrow is in theatres now.