James Whitehead
As one of the most widely acclaimed and successful pop artists of his generation, The Weeknd is finding out the brutal reality that not all popularity carries over, as fans and critics everywhere pan his new mystery thriller, Hurry Up Tomorrow, also starring Jenna Ortega.
Sitting at 16% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics are calling the film “insufferable” and an “ego-stroke” for the artist, as The Weeknd’s music is prevalent throughout the film, frustrating watchers as they’re unsure if they’re watching a film or an advert. Not even the popularity of Jenna Ortega or Barry Keoghan seems to be redeeming this film. Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) portrays a musician struggling with insomnia, but from the reviews out there it ironically seems he struggles to portray a musician with any sense of realism, despite it being his ‘day job’.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this rhetoric has been pushed around regarding Abel, whose breakout acting role in 2019’s Uncut Gems was met with similar harsh criticisms for his overly cartoonish performance, despite Uncut Gems being far more successful overall with critics. Whilst it wouldn’t be fair to disregard his acting career forever, after all there are many cases of actors struggling and improving over time. It’s certainly fair at least to say that it’s off to a rocky start.
Perhaps his first two roles have been too close to home, if Abel truly wants to better himself as an actor, he must stretch his realities and his horizons, so we don’t continue to see these cartoonish alter-egos of himself with every role he gets. It depends if he’s trying to take over the film world as well or if it really is just another avenue to keep promoting his music career. Either way the musician will surely want to start seeing some better reactions to the projects he is releasing on screen, but that won’t start with Hurry Up Tomorrow, which is now playing in cinemas.
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