The newly released Hurry Up Tomorrow is the sixth studio album by the successful singer Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd. It is the final album in his musical trilogy following After Hours and Dawn FM. For music purists, the release is also available as an LP via Amazon.
But Hurry Up Tomorrow is also the title of the accompanying film, in which Tesfaye makes his official acting debut. However, he is not just the lead actor—The Weeknd also co-wrote the screenplay with director Trey Edward Shults and produced the independent film, which reportedly cost around $20 million. In other words, he had full creative control over a film that explores the loss of control. The newly released trailer offers a first look at what that entails:
A musician making a (music) film and playing a version of himself? This has been done before—think Purple Rain with Prince or Moonwalker with Michael Jackson, just to name two famous examples. One might be tempted to say, “Stick to what you know.” However, while the King of Pop essentially jumped from one music video to the next, with only a thin storyline connecting the scenes, Hurry Up Tomorrow promises a Lynchian horror trip and a descent into surreal nightmares.
It’s no coincidence—The Weeknd has often cited the recently deceased filmmaker David Lynch as a major inspiration for his music. So, it’s not surprising that Hurry Up Tomorrow could just as well have come from the master of surrealism himself.
Hurry Up Tomorrow Is a Deeply Personal Work for The Weeknd
In Hurry Up Tomorrow, an insomniac musician (played by Abel Tesfaye) meets a mysterious young woman (Jenna Ortega) and embarks on a surreal journey that makes him question his entire existence. Beyond that, neither the official synopsis nor the just-released trailer reveal much more about the upcoming psychological thriller/drama.
But this ambiguity seems intentional—partly to avoid spoilers and partly because such intricate and dark psychological trips are nearly impossible to explain without giving away key details. All the better to experience it firsthand in the cinema.
Both the album and the film were significantly influenced by an event that appears to have left a deep mark on Tesfaye’s psyche. In 2022, during his After Hours Til Dawn tour at SoFi Stadium, he suddenly lost his voice on stage (via Variety). No medical cause could be found, and it only returned days later. Tesfaye later explained that it was more of a psychological block than a physical issue. He channeled this experience—the loss of what defines him as an artist—into Hurry Up Tomorrow.
With Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), director Trey Edward Shults (It Comes at Night) has given Tesfaye two highly sought-after co-stars. In the U.S., Hurry Up Tomorrow will be released in theaters on May 16, 2025. When and how it will be available in other countries remains to be determined.
