Hurry Up Tomorrow

A soft 5/10. Abel Tesfaye's Hurry Up Tomorrow flirts with greatness but gets caught in its own spin, literally. The overused spinning camera becomes more distracting than dynamic and pulls from an otherwise intimate movie that gradually finds its own rhythm. The small cast works well and the slow-burn structure kept me guessing what kind of movie it really was until it clicked into place. It tries a little too hard to feel surreal and there's definitely some ego stroking going on by The Weekend. A few memorable moments.. It's Trey Edward Shults and feels like it. It's ambitious, uneven, and intriguing.

In the first half I was prone to say wow, this is not as bad as I expected. The cinematography was pretty decent, I liked the colors and the references (for example The Shining's hotel lobby). Plot was nearly inexistent, and it's a shame because it had lots of potential going on. I never had the chance to see more about the girl in his phone, I never actually learned the story behind Ortega's arsonicism. Nothing more than poor edging.

In the interviews, Abel is talking a lot about his traumatic event of losing his voice, but this plot was at best secondary, and i was disappointed of that too.

Overall, I really really love Abel and his music but his movies not so much.

This movie contains numerous spinning camera angles and a soundtrack that tries to imitate the Bladerunner 2049 at times. From the opening scene where the song went on a lot longer than it really should have, I already had a sinking feeling about the movie. Thirty minutes later and almost nothing about the plot has been revealed. Heck, Jenny Ortega hasn't even spoken a single word. What a complete waste of time. This movie tries way too hard to be surreal and it completely failed to do anything to make me care about any of the characters. What is this movie trying to achieve? I honestly have no idea.

If you were looking for a film that gave every possible art film camera angle and effect, this is the one for you. Reminded me the first time I used Photoshop and had to try out all the cool effects, the difference is I didn't try to use them all in the same photo. This movie did.

30 minutes of it was actually reasonably good, but the other hour plus was unnecessary.

Don't worry about having to go to the bathroom in the first hour, because you won't miss anything of substance.

I was mildly surprised by The Weeknd's acting, then I realize he's playing himself, so not really acting.

Jenna was great, the only bright spot in this lack luster film.

You are significantly more likely to enjoy this movie if any of the following are true: You are a Jenna Ortega stan. You love The Weeknd and his music. You like ethereal movies where metaphors and symbolism are the main draw. You don't mind visual storytelling with minimal actual story.

None of the above are true for me. I think Jenna Ortega is a highly talented actress and does not disappoint with this performance. The Weeknd also does a good job, although it's hard to tell since he's playing himself. And they are two of the realest celebrities out there, never afraid to stand up for what's right.

As for the movie overall, I found it overly slow and pretty boring. The story is super basic and could have been told in half the time. The visuals are cool but feel pointless. It will really depend on each viewer if the visuals and music are enough to make this an enjoyable experience.

(1 viewing, early screening UltraScreen 5/14/2025)