GULFWEEKLY: Musical psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow is out now in theatres.
Starring Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, the film is set to tell the story of an insomniac musician on the verge of a breakdown, who gets pulled into an existential journey that challenges everything he knows about himself upon meeting a mysterious stranger named Ani, played by Jenna Ortega.
“It’s a mix of psychological thriller and drama,” director Trey Shults said in an interview.
“I honestly feel like I’ve never seen a movie quite like it,” he added.
It was revealed that while the main character played by Tesfaye is also named Abel, the plot is only loosely based on his career, which he embarked on in 2009.
“I feel like we created a character that isn’t exactly him, but it’s honest to his soul and what he could have been if things went differently in life,” Trey explained.
“I think his character is in need of self-reflection. He’s kind of at a crossroads in his life.”
The film takes inspiration from an incident, which also influenced the accompanying soundtrack, released in January – Abel who features on the film’s musical album lost his voice mid-song during a sold-out show on his last world tour.
“I knew that I really needed to sit down and figure out my life. I’d had a kind of a mental breakdown, which is pretty much what this new album’s about,” Abel said ahead of the musical release.
The namesake album consisting of 22 tracks combines elements of R&B, synth-pop, trap as well as Brazilian funk.
It is also the final instalment of a trilogy, following his previous creations After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022), and marks his sixth studio release.
Abel said that Hurry Up Tomorrow is very likely going to be his last body of work as The Weeknd.
“As the Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd, and I will, eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn,” he added.
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