I’ve seen my share of concert films or music centric movies revolving around a singer or band. Some of they are comedic in nature, and others like Hurry Up Tomorrow are more dramatic in nature. It may, in fact, have a horror element to it.  It’s based on the music of Abel Tesfaye, the singer of The Weekend. A pop music sensation the last decade or so. I’ll admit even I have fallen under the spell of The Weekend, even though their music isn’t usually my thing. Fans of the group will probably like this film, but it’s not going to be for everybody.

Abel Tesfaye, as himself,or The Weekend, if you will, is on a tour going from city to city playing his music at stadiums for massive crowds. He has a manager who helps keep him on track, Lee (Barry Keoghan). They are long-time friends from when they were kids.  Abel has an issue that has been lingering on his mind about a girlfriend who hasn’t called or texted his back. This is bothering him quite a bit. This has affected his scheduled performances.  It doesn’t help that a woman in the crowd of one of his shows sees a connection with him and wants to become friends. She tries to help him through the difficult time he’s going through. She has her own traumas she’s dealing with, though.

Tray Edward Schultz is a director who I’ve followed along with ever since his first trilogy of films Krisha, It Comes At Night and Waves, specifically Waves. That hit me hard as an aex basketball/football coach locally in my Central Florida community. He dabbled in a few genres over the course of his career thus far. Hurry Up Tomorrow might just mix all of the elements he’s worked with in the past to create something wholly original in nature.  It has horror aspects, as I mentioned, expectations of performance and success, and plays around with the camera and reality. All these elements mix very seamlessly even if the story as a whole is a bit disjointed and  misguided. 

Abel Tesfaye, The Weekend, has been in a few movies/television shows in the past. Namely Uncut GEMS and the HBO series The Idol before this film. His videos and persona lead him to a career in acting. It’s a natural progression. I loved his last album. Blinding lights and other songs from him have been very good and not the kind of music I tend to gravitate towards. They just hit me at the right time in my life. Him playing himself in a film based on his life, and music is a bit on the nose, though. I just wish there was more of a story to the movie.

Jenna Ortega is on fire in her career right now. She just had to films Death of a Unicorn and Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall come out in the last two months or so. Now she’s in this autobiographical concert film if you will. She pays a traumatized young woman who finds herself in the right place at the wrong time. This role didn’t seem like the type of thing she does lately. I bet she just wanted to work with the talent involved, so she signed on.  She just seemed a bit out of place for my tastes. Her story was a little outside the box in the context of the film as well. I applaud her doing different things, but I don’t think this was the right role for her right now in her career.

Barry Keoghan is a younger actor who surprises me every time I see him on screen, but similar to Ortega, this may not have been the best choice of roles. Sure, he’s played his fair share of crazy or weird characters in his career thus far, but this one didn’t play into his strengths as an actor.  He has a lot of supporting roles in his career, but playing second fiddle to Abel Tesfaye, The Weekend, wasn’t in his best interests from a career standpoint. He needs to start getting lead roles or more supporting roles in an ensemble that fits into his strengths as an actor like Bird recently. 

Hurry Up Tomorrow is a fever dream of a film similar to the videos and so forth from Abel Tesfaye ‘s The Weekend career. Does the Super Bowl halftime performance come to mind as a reminder of the style he likes to do things in? The acti overall wasn’t bad because the three main stars of the movie are pretty good at what they do. The film didn’t look too bad from a filmmaking perspective.  It looked like other Edward Shultz movies I’ve seen, especially all the flashing lights and disoriented scenes at clubs and during the concerts. I feel there should have been more of a story to go along with all the craziness in this man’s life and career. It’s typical of most music centric films of this nature. Unfortunately, I think it could have been better in some of the script aspects. I’m sure fans of this artist and his music  will like it, though.

2 ½

Dan Skip Allen