Is Hurry Up Tomorrow Timeless?

I'm listening to the album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, as I write this. Let's hope it provides some inspiration. Hurry Up Tomorrow, the movie, is a lot better than what the majority of critics are saying. The Peliplat rating of 5.8 stars out of 10 is criminally low. Yes, it is what everyone is calling it — a vanity project — but that doesn't make it bad.

Walking out of the theatre, I felt surprisingly fulfilled. There were only six people in the theatre and I felt like we had collectively witnessed the rarest cinematic moment of 2025. Either us six were too dumb to realize that this movie wasn't worth the cash or we were the only six adventurous enough to give The Weeknd another shot. After The Idol debacle, Hurry Up Tomorrow's two-week theatrical run was a head scratcher, and that was reflected in its poor box office performance. Still, for the few of us that did see it, it was a rewarding cinematic experience and proof that one role should not define an actor's career. Acting, after all, is all about reinvention.

I don't blame The Weeknd for making himself the topic of conversation. In Hurry Up Tomorrow, he plays a fictionalized version of himself. He's going through a bad breakup and his vocal chords are strained from touring. Jenna Ortega comes into his life and basically sends him on a psychedelic adventure of self discovery. In the modern day, we are still grossly obsessed with celebrities. It makes sense for The Weeknd to think that the most interesting thing he could give us is a peek behind the backstage curtain. From A Star is Born to 8 Mile, showing the behind-the-scenes workings of a musician is one of the most common tropes of musician-led movies. Still, there's something fresh about The Weeknd's vague and vibes-based approach. It's equally surprising that it worked, as other artists who have tried to make symbolic movies have come up much shorter.

In 1984, Prince released a movie titled Purple Rain and an accompanying soundtrack with all-new music. The Purple Rain album is a classic, no doubt, but the movie? It's so stupid; like downright bad. Prince plays The Kid who lives on a farm but drives his chrome motorbike to the city to perform at a club in the hopes of becoming a star. Why does he live on a farm? It's bizarre and doesn't even come close to making sense. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads: "Purple Rain makes for undeniably uneven cinema, but it's held together by its star's singular charisma — not to mention a slew of classic songs."

The Weeknd does the exact same thing, with a much more creative and coherent movie, and the consensus reads, "On second thought, let's fast-forward to the workweek." Why so dismissive? Prince has a million defenders and apologists because he was so creative, but The Weeknd, who has provided album after album of fire music, is shot down for trying something ambitious. As A$AP Rocky once said, "Since when has it become not cool to try?" It seems like the critics are a bit harsh; a bit like there's a double standard. The Weeknd is a creative guy with a lot of resources. If I was him, I'd probably be doing the exact same thing. And, to be clear, it's not like the movie he made is even bad... It's actually pretty good.

On the surface, its story is nothing short of bizarre, but metaphorically it makes some sense. I'm still puzzled by the Ortega character. Like The Weeknd sings on the opening song from the new album, "Are you real or are you an illusion?" I still don't know if her character was real or part of the singer's imagination. If she was real, why does she have these seemingly supernatural powers? If she was an illusion, why does she have a backstory?

Despite the vague story, Ortega has a lot more to work with here than she did in Death of a Unicorn. Her character at least has an edge to her. Barry Keoghan is also wonderful as The Weeknd's manager, but that's not surprising; he's always wonderful. With Uncut Gems and The Idol under his belt, as well as a life in the public eye, The Weeknd is perfectly serviceable as an actor. Obviously, he left a bad taste in people's mouths with The Idol, but, in this new movie, he's natural and comfortable in front of the camera. That's half the battle.

The soundtrack and score mainly come from the Weeknd's album. Thus, the soundscapes are lush, electric, and very cool. Some of the synthesizers reminded me of Scarface, due to the Giorgio Moroder connection, who scored that classic and is featured on Hurry Up Tomorrow.

Clearly, I'm a fan of The Weeknd. His music and his career trajectory line up with my adult life. House of Balloons was released the same year as my first year of university, his moody music of sex and drugs was the soundtrack to my college years of little sex and little drugs. I enjoyed the mood he was sonically setting — the vibe. He was this mysterious creature who sounded like he was always coming out of the wildest party ever. It was cool, and I kept listening.

I'm the movie's target audience, but I don't think I liked this movie because I like The Weeknd's music. The movie is not a greatest hits collection or a really long music video or a tour video (it kind of is that last one, but not really). It's a story and what it was trying to say resonated with me. I found it interesting to see how The Weeknd chose to portray his creative process, which is what this movie is really about. I think that anybody who has faced the deafening silence of creativity will identify with The Weeknd's struggles.

I hope that history is kind to Hurry Up Tomorrow. Maybe today, the world sees it as too much content from The Weeknd. In the past five years, he's released three albums, headlined the Super Bowl, starred in The Idol and now this movie. Maybe the world just needs a break from The Weeknd, and maybe that's why the artist wants to stop using that moniker. If that's the case, this movie will serve as the grand finale. Perhaps it will take us some time to appreciate and digest the XO creative vision.

That doesn't necessarily make the movie timeless. I think it will stay within the niche of celebrity intrigue, just like the Purple Rain movie — not really praised by cinephiles, but of interest to music heads and celebrity worshipers. At best, it will be remembered as a cult classic. For now, Hurry Up Tomorrow is the perfect movie to put on when you come home from a party and you need to wind down (sober up) before falling asleep. If that's not The Weeknd's M.O., then I don't know what is. Hurry Up Tomorrow is a vibe, and the coolest motion picture of 2025.