MOVIE NEWS – The Weeknd plays his alter ego in the thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow, alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Ortega used the 1981 psychological horror film Possession as inspiration for his character. The film opens in theaters on May 15.

Following the release of his sixth studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, is making a feature film of the same title. The film, directed by Trey Edward Shults, is a suspenseful thriller loosely inspired by the Toronto-born pop star’s career. The main character is a star on the verge of a nervous breakdown, plagued by insomnia, and begins to unravel the deepest essence of his existence when he teams up with a strange woman.

The film also stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. In an interview with The Cut, Ortega said that he wanted the role because of a heartbreaking scene in the film, in which his character collapses in tears in a tunnel. Tesfaye and director Andrzej Żuławski used a scene from the 1981 cult film Possession as inspiration, in which Isabelle Adjani’s character gives a cinematically significant performance in an underpass. According to Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega’s interpretation was raw and honest. “Jenna gave such a raw performance that it seriously scared me to death.”

“I feel like we created a character who is not quite him [The Weeknd], but true to his soul and what he could have been if things had turned out differently,” Shulz said. “I think his character needs self-reflection. He’s at a crossroads in his life.”

The Weeknd stars as himself, alongside Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Beetlejuice) and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, Ghosts of the Island). This is not the first time the Canadian singer has tried his hand at acting: he starred opposite Lily-Rose Depp in Sam Levinson’s HBO series The Idol.

Hurry Up Tomorrow will be released in Hungarian cinemas on May 15, 2025, distributed by ADS Service.