Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 45 minutes, Director – Trey Edward Shults
A singer (Abel Tesfaye) in the middle of a world tour finds himself strained by a recent break-up and a failing voice, could an overnight encounter with a fan (Jenna Ortega) help or worsen matters?
Going into Hurry Up Tomorrow my lack of knowledge about modern music meant that I couldn’t have named you a single song by The Weeknd. Leaving after the credits had rolled I’m still not sure I could. Maybe a better knowledge of at least some of his music may have helped with the viewing experience of the film which the artist has co-written, co-composed, co-produced and leads. It’s an undoubtedly personal work. but for much of the run-time I sat there wondering what it was I was meant to be feeling and taking away.
As Abel Tesfaye, playing a version of himself with his character named The Weeknd; as if this film is acknowledging the dropping of a character, is tied down to a bed a fan, Jenna Ortega’s Anima, mimes along to some of his biggest hits, explaining the more-personal-than-they-may-seem lyrics to him. The scene, which appears to be directly referencing American Psycho, comes somewhat late in the day and with a more direct nature compared to previous montage-based sequences. Yet, it feels as if it adds little development to Tesfaye or his character, or even his stage persona. We’ve seen him up until this point struggling with a harsh break-up in the wake of his unfolding world tour, dropping out of a show in the opening song after being pushed on stage by his manager (Barry Keoghan) despite a failing voice. But these largely seem to be ideas rather than fleshed out points in the narrative.
Director Trey Edward Shults, who did interesting work with the style of 2019’s Waves, tries to create an otherworldly, dreamlike feel in the opening stages. As if aiming for an almost Lynchian feel it makes for an interesting opening and introduction to the world. Perhaps some of this comes from the simple fact that it’s nice to see a film like this on a wide release, in mainstream multiplex cinemas. That may have been part of the reason why I sat there throughout wanting to like it so much. There are some interesting beats here and there amongst the heavy dose of Acting from the three stars.
Yet, while creating some engagement this style also causes the film to feel unsettled as it cycles through the various struggles faced by The Weeknd – with the eventual resolve for him being to shout down the answerphone to his ex-girlfriend (voiced by Riley Keough) about what went wrong and how she never gave him a proper reason for leaving him. Could Ortega’s character be the one to save him from his spiral, or will she just make things worse? The looping events form something quite boring, struggling to find itself amongst a stretched run-time. All told between references to the aforementioned American Psycho, a sequence taken directly from The Shining and shots from The Adventures Of Prince Achmed, the latter of which I don’t think I’ll ever work out the inclusion of.
But, I still sat there wanting to like the film. I could feel it trying, but struggling under its constantly moving style. It feels unfocused and undetailed bringing in a slow dullness. It ultimately means that what it’s actually trying to say and go for feels unclear, even if at the same time attempted to be rushed and pushed in the final stages. Confusion begins to rear its head, and even slight frustration starts to settle in the more things are pushed causing things to drag and lose any interest that may have been initially developed in the dreamlike style.
A slow and unfocused character piece with little character insight, Hurry Up Tomorrow tries to push its style but even that falters eventually leading to a film where it’s unclear what’s meant to be taken away from it, no matter how much you yourself try to put into it.
Just A Little Bit Random 