“This experimental film delves into the emotional journey of a tormented artist, exploring the complex mental health struggles that many of us face,” says writer-producer Abel Tesfaye of the psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow. The story follows a musician, plagued by insomnia, who is drawn into an odyssey with a stranger—one that begins to unravel the very core of his existence.
Pictured above: Barry Keoghan as Lee and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Abel in Hurry Up Tomorrow. Photo Credit: Andrew Cooper
Hurry Up Tomorrow is a major cultural moment at the intersection of music, cinema, and artistry. It
marks The Weeknd’s first leading film role, bringing his creative vision into a new medium in
collaboration with director Trey Edward Shults and a compelling ensemble cast. The film’s unique
approach bridges artistic disciplines, creating a cinematic event that reflects the evolution of
storytelling in both music and film.
Hurry Up Tomorrow is a deeply personal project for Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd. The psychological thriller explores themes of mental health, identity, and artistic struggle, drawing inspiration from Tesfaye’s own experiences. The film follows a musician plagued by insomnia who embarks on an existential journey with a mysterious stranger, unravelling the core of his existence.
Tesfaye has described the film as his most personal work yet, revealing that it was born out of one of the darkest moments of his life. He lost his voice during a 2022 concert, which led to a crisis of identity and purpose—an experience that heavily influenced the film’s narrative. The movie also incorporates elements of sleep paralysis, a condition Tesfaye has struggled with, using it as a metaphor for psychological distress.
Directed by Trey Edward Shults, Hurry Up Tomorrow blends cinematic influences from Ingmar Bergman’s Persona and Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, creating a visually and emotionally immersive experience. The film marks Tesfaye’s transition from music to filmmaking, showcasing his evolution as an artist.
It has already generated significant buzz for its raw and introspective storytelling. Fans and critics alike are eager to see how Tesfaye’s struggles translate into this ambitious cinematic endeavour.
A note from writer-producer Abel Tesfaye
Film and storytelling have always been at the core of everything I do, and discovering new films has played a huge role in shaping that. I remember one year at TIFF, I saw Trey’s film Waves, and I instantly connected with his visual style and the way he captured such layered, complex emotions. It stuck with me. Years later, as I started to hone in on what I wanted to say with Hurry Up Tomorrow, it became clear that Trey was the perfect director to bring that vision to life.
Trey and I connected deeply as artists, and we just understood each other from the first time we met. I gave him my initial ideas for the film, and I really wanted him to feel connected to the material – as much as it’s my story, he needed to see himself in it as well. We had a lot of long conversations on the phone that were like therapy sessions where we would talk through our ideas and build out the story – I could tell how passionate he was, how much he cared, and that built a lot of trust between us. We continued to work very closely throughout the writing process and all the way through production.”
This character is based on my personal experience as an artist – a fictional version of myself in an alternative reality if things took a very dark turn. We meet my character when he’s at a breaking point and follow him through a mind-bending odyssey.
Jenna is a force on screen and behind the camera – her performance was incredibly mesmerising and keeps you immersed in every scene. She’s also a creative force behind the scenes and was a real asset as an executive producer.
Barry’s a great friend and having him in this role was an honor. He’s a selfless performer and was really patient with me on set. He’s also incredibly dynamic, which allowed us to really explore the themes of identity and self-awareness with his character in unique ways.”
This is an experimental film that follows the emotional journey of a tormented artist and explores the complex mental health struggles that so many of us experience.
A Note from Trey Edward Shults – Director / Writer / Executive Producer
Writer-Director Trey Edward Shults is widely known for his vibrant storytelling and the depth of character that he captures in his films, as seen in the coming-of-age drama, Waves (A24), and the psychological horror, It Comes at Night(A24). His directorial debut, Krisha (A24), is an emotionally charged drama that sparked his career and won several awards including the National Board of Review’s Best Directorial Debut, The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, The Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award at the Gothams, and both the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at SXSW.
My producers Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss said Abel had an idea for a movie and was a fan of mine so he wanted to meet. We had a meeting and I instantly loved Abel. He was not what I expected. Kind, down to earth, and he had very similar taste to mine. He pitched me the idea for HURRY UP TOMORROW with the caveat that the only way it or us collaborating would work is if I put all my heart and soul into it and made it my own film. Shortly after the meeting I got crazy inspired, the most inspired I had been with anything since I wrote Waves, and I went on a writing binge writing the first outline for this film. Everything continued to click into place and we were shooting the film months later, and that’s never happened to me before. It was exhilarating and inspiring.
He had the idea for the film and then I got inspired. We would start with long phone calls that went from bouncing ideas back and forth from structure, character, and themes to doing kind of therapy sessions with Abel where I’d find out all about this past, where he was at mentally in different phases of his life, etc. These led[AE1] to us creating a character of Abel that’s more how Abel could’ve turned out if things went differently in his life, while also combining very vulnerable and personal elements into his character and the film. So it started in the writing phase and it was just effortless. We bounced everything back and forth and I would go away and do a ton of writing to interject my own stuff. That kind of effortless collaboration then continued into the shooting and post-production. I think we have an enormous amount of trust built up between us and we push ourselves to do our best work.
Well, Abel is perfect because he’s literally playing a version of himself, haha. It inspired me so much though that he was brave enough to go the places this film required him to go. I truly feel like we’ve never seen a film do this before. Having a massive pop star playing a version of himself in such a bold yet vulnerable way. I was also blown away by his skills as an actor. I really didn’t know what to expect because my only frame of reference was his music videos but I thought he was fantastic in them, but obviously a film requires much more skill as a performer and he delivered beautifully. I think by the end of the film he’s doing something so vulnerable and putting his true heart and soul out there. Jenna was initially Abel’s idea, and I didn’t know her work terribly well. I thought she was great in X and Scream, but that’s all I had seen, and knew this film required her to go to some heavy vulnerable places and require incredible nuance. Abel and I took a meeting with her, and I loved her. Then once we were shooting, she blew me away every day. She’s one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with and, at the time of shooting, she was only 20 years old! The end of the film literally wouldn’t work without her performance. It’s so exciting because I feel like I’ve never seen Jenna in a role like this and I can’t imagine anyone else on the planet doing what she did. Barry was already friends with Abel, and I was a huge fan of Barry. We had a meeting one night, and he agreed to do the movie without reading a script. We just talked about the film and what his character was and me promising him that he’d have room to play and discover. Jenna’s approach was so refined and dialed in, but Barry was like this tornado of exciting energy. Every day he showed up on set I didn’t know what he was gonna do or what I was gonna get and it was incredibly exciting. I just had to make sure I captured everything he was giving us. I also loved that he really fought for his character’s nuance. There are times where it would be easy to vilify Lee and for Barry’s performance to take the easy route, but he always brought the deeper layer and nuance to the character.
I’m terrible at talking about my own films but with everything I make I have the ambition to try to make something fresh that feels like something we haven’t seen before, and I truly believe I’ve never seen a film quite like this. I think it’s a riveting, singular experience. I also think if you’re a fan of The Weeknd [AE2] and love his music then you will LOVE this movie, but it’s also designed in a way to where you don’t have to be a fan of his to LOVE this movie. For me, HURRY UP TOMORROW is a rich character piece and singular cinematic experience that plays with dream and reality in a way that is interesting and honest to our story and characters.
I tried to design the movie to work on two levels. If you just wanna take everything in the movie at face value and go on a ride, I think it works on that level. If you want to look deeper and interpret the movie and its characters at a deeper level I think it also works incredibly well. I think in simplistic terms audiences can expect something fresh that they haven’t seen before. It’s a great movie and a wild ride. The movie was designed for the big screen. We shot on 35mm and have many intricate shots and set pieces. We worked on the music and sound design for a very, very long time with incredibly talented people. All with the goal of making a visceral, cinematic, and singular experience.
A Note from Reza Fahim – Writer / Producer
Reza Fahim is an Iranian-American writer and producer for film and television whose fast rising career includes co-creating an HBO series. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Fahim spent his early childhood in Tehran, Iran, and fled to the US as a refugee when he was four years old. At that young age, Fahim watched his family establish new roots in Virginia through a sandwich shop where he realized the beauty in creating experiences for people, something his mother also liked to do. At the age of 17, Fahim moved to California to advance his studies at UCSB and UCLA in California. While in school he discovered a love for writing and storytelling and soon kickstarted his career in the film industry when he landed a job working alongside legendary producer David Permut, who became his first mentor in the business.
Abel and I have been close for the past ten years. Early on in our friendship we realized that we both had very similar ambitions outside of our current careers, which was to become filmmakers. From that point we started sharing ideas and building stories that we wanted to tell. Abel came to me one day with the concept for a film that would be loosely tied to a new music project, and it felt incredibly personal and bold. The more we started building out the story, the more we understood how singular this project would be – something that audiences have not seen before.
I loved working with these two brilliant minds. Our goal with this film was to do something that highlighted the convergence of music and film, and we wanted to do that in a unique way. I love films like Purple Rain and The Wall because they both are an expression of artistic merit and not something intended to drive metrics and aggregation. With Abel’s perspective as an artist and musician and Trey being known for weaving sound and music into his storytelling, the stars aligned perfectly during the creative process.”
Abel was a vital part of this cast since he plays an iteration of himself in an alternate universe. I don’t think any other artist could have accomplished this performance except for Abel. Jenna is truly just a brilliant talent. She captures Ani’s duality so well, portraying her softness but also her intensity perfectly. And for Barry, we’ve been friends with him for a while, he and Abel have great banter which is essential when portraying the role of a manager, to really establish that these two characters have been working together for years. Barry also strikes this unique balance of playing someone that Abel can trust but also blends that manipulative quality of his character so subtly. I can’t think of a better choice for this character.”
Trey is a true visionary first and foremost. I highly regard his work in Krisha, It Comes at Night, and Waves. He approaches filmmaking in such a caring and thoughtful way, and he really took the concept and made it his own. Between his cinematography and how he’s able to weave music in as a driver of a film’s narrative, we knew he was the right choice for Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Audiences can expect a visual and sonic experience that delves deep into an artist’s psyche. It’s a cerebral journey with a lot of genre bending between thriller, horror, drama, etc. I also hope audiences can see a new side to Abel, his performance (alongside Jenna and Barry’s brilliance) is impressive.”
