Genre – Thriller
Director – Trey Edward Shults
Writers – Trey Edward Shults, Abel Tesfaye, Reza Fahim
Cast – Abel Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough
Runtime – 105 Minutes
My Rating – ⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Watch/Stream Hurry Up Tomorrow
It’s like watching a pop star cry in the mirror for two hours while two Oscar-worthy actors are forced to nod along.
Trey Edward Shults is a filmmaker with real vision,so I thought maybe this might be somewhat interesting and different in a positive way.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Plot Summary of Hurry Up Tomorrow (Spoiler-Free)
Hurry Up Tomorrow follows a fictional version of Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), played by the real Abel Tesfaye, who is spiraling post-breakup. His ex (Riley Keough) has left him, and he’s not handling it well. By “not handling it well,” I mean he’s fully clothed in a bathtub, leaving a string of desperate voicemails, and generally acting like the patron saint of tortured pop stars.
While struggling with depression and a newly diagnosed vocal cord injury, Abel continues to tour with the encouragement of his manager and best friend Lee (Barry Keoghan), who is there to snort coke and stir up chaos. Meanwhile, across the country, a young woman named Anima (Jenna Ortega) has just burned down her house and is now on the road to one of Abel’s concerts.
When their paths cross, things get… strange. What begins as a chance backstage meeting turns into an intense and deeply bizarre relationship. Anima isn’t just a fan, she becomes a kind of psychological captor, psychoanalyzing Abel’s music, life choices, and emotional state while increasingly unhinged events unfold.
What follows is part music video, part therapy session, and part psychological thriller.
Hurry Up Tomorrow Review: Is It Worth Watching?
I give Hurry Up Tomorrow a 3 out of 10. And two of those points are for Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, who both seem to be acting in a completely different (and much better) movie, and one point for the visuals/sound.
The movie tries very hard to be profound. It wants to say something about fame, isolation, artistic burnout, emotional trauma, and the line between performance and reality. But instead of exploring those themes in a meaningful way, it mostly just shows Abel wandering through beautiful settings looking sad while people tell him how brilliant he is.
There are scenes that clearly want to be provocative or thought-provoking, but they mostly come off as laughable. One moment, Anima is slow-dancing while Abel is literally strapped to a bed, looking like he regrets every career decision since 2019. Another has Keoghan ranting about stardom on a private jet in a scene that feels like it was written by someone who watched The Wolf of Wall Street once and misunderstood the assignment.
Abel himself also barely speaks in the movie, which is possibly the best decision anyone made with regards to the film, because whenever he does open his mouth, it’s usually just to say something that sounds deep but means nothing,
Director Trey Edward Shults, whose previous work (Waves, It Comes At Night) showcased some truly haunting visuals and raw emotion, seems to be on autopilot here. The film leans hard on visual tricks – shifting aspect ratios, slow-motion montages, and enough handheld camera work to make you seasick. It feels like he emptied the entire bag of indie filmmaker tricks without stopping to ask, “Why?”
And then there’s the tone. It’s one thing to make a film that blurs the line between fantasy and reality. It’s another to make one that blurs the line between melodrama and unintentional comedy. By the time Anima started explaining Abel’s song lyrics back to him like a deranged Genius.com editor, I felt like I was watching a satire.
It’s indulgent, overlong, and obsessed with its own symbolism. But worst of all, it’s boring. That’s the real crime here. Hurry Up Tomorrow is a film you can glance away from for 15 minutes, come back, and not feel like you missed a thing.
What I liked (And What I Didn’t like)
Pros
Jenna Ortega’s Committed Performance
Ortega gives this movie far more than it deserves. She’s playing Anima with an unnerving mix of charm and menace. You can tell she’s trying to make sense of this character, and somehow, she finds layers in material that’s paper-thin.
Barry Keoghan Being Barry Keoghan
He brings energy, unpredictability, and actual acting to a film that desperately needs it. He deserves a medal for carrying multiple scenes on his back.
Chayse Irvin’s Cinematography
Credit where it’s due: this movie looks great. Shot on 35mm, the film has a rich, textured visual style that almost convinces you something meaningful is happening. Almost. The lighting, composition, and colors are gorgeous. Shame about everything else.
The Sound Design
If you’re going to build a film around an album, at least the audio should be good – and it is. The mix is immersive, with rich layers and ambient noise that draw you in. It’s just a shame the story doesn’t follow suit.
Cons
Abel Tesfaye’s “Performance”
He’s not an actor. He’s not even trying to act. He mopes, stares, and mutters his way through the film like someone who lost a bet. There’s no nuance, no charisma, and no justification for him being at the center of this film.
The Script
This script reads like it was written in a group chat at 3 a.m. Lines meant to sound profound just come off as nonsense. The characters don’t speak like real people, and the emotional beats are completely unearned.
The Pacing
It drags. Scenes linger far too long, and there’s a sense that the filmmakers were more interested in looking cool than telling a story. There are entire stretches where nothing happens, and not in a meditative way – in a “can we wrap this up?” way.
Visual Gimmicks Over Substance
Changing aspect ratios, spinning camera shots, lingering slow-mo – these things are fine if they serve the story. Here, they feel like distractions, like someone shaking keys in front of your face because they know you’re getting bored.
The Lack of Real Stakes
For a movie about emotional unraveling, there are shockingly few consequences. Characters drift in and out, tension builds to nothing, and by the end, nothing really feels resolved. It’s just mood for mood’s sake.
Poor Character Development
Everyone except Abel is one-note. Anima is interesting for a while, but she becomes more of a metaphor than a person. Keoghan’s Lee is chaotic fun, but we learn almost nothing about him. It’s like the movie is allergic to depth.
It Feels Like a Vanity Project
This is the big one. The whole movie reeks of self-importance. It’s Abel making a film about Abel, starring Abel, written by Abel. It’s more a pretentious product than a film, a carefully crafted image booster disguised as a deep emotional journey.
Who Might Like Hurry Up Tomorrow
There’s definitely an audience out there who’ll call Hurry Up Tomorrow “brave” while the rest of us quietly back away. There’s definitely something to be said for meditative, slow cinema when it’s handled with nuance. Unfortunately, nuance takes a bit of a vacation here, but if you’re patient and into visual storytelling that leans hard into metaphor (whether or not it works), you’ll probably find some fascination in the emotional murk. Maybe?
Probably not actually…
Who Might Dislike Hurry Up Tomorrow
If you like your movies with things like a clear story, believable characters, or even the faintest hint of structure, then Hurry Up Tomorrow is going to feel like a long, slow brain freeze. This movie isn’t interested in your silly little “narrative arcs” or “emotional payoffs.” It’s here to wallow, and it takes itself so seriously, you start to wonder if it’s a parody that forgot it was supposed to be funny.
It’s bloated with symbolism, yet shockingly hollow. There’s nothing wrong with experimental films—when they’re compelling. This one just feels like Abel found a camera and thought, “Let’s make my therapy sessions cinematic.”
Final Verdict: Did I Enjoy Watching Hurry Up Tomorrow?
No. There were moments when I was curious, moments when I thought, “Maybe it’s building to something,” but they never paid off. I sat through this thing trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it just kept letting me down. The performances from Ortega and Keoghan were the only things keeping me from walking out, and even they seemed trapped in a fever dream they didn’t sign up for.
This film is best suited for people who enjoy staring into mirrors and pondering the nature of their own reflection. Or people who think quoting their own song lyrics at themselves counts as therapy. For everyone else, especially if you’re just looking for a good story or an emotional ride, avoid.
Watch it if you’re curious. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Hurry Up Tomorrow Trailer
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