Film Review: HURRY UP TOMORROW (2025): A Stylish and Flashy Exercise in Filmmaking in Search of a Plot

Hurry Up Tomorrow Review

Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Trey Edward Shults, written by Reza Fahim, The Weeknd and Trey Edward Shults and starring The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Ash T, Paul L. Davis, Sebastian Villalobos, Roman Mitichyan, Ibrahim Ivan Troy Simonin, Kiara Liz, Olga Safari, Roy Williams Jr., Olivia Abreu and Scott Aschenbrenner.

Hurry Up Tomorrow, directed by the ambitious Trey Edward Shults, is the type of movie that one just goes with as its playing and hopes that it will tie all its threads together successfully by the conclusion. It’s not a boring movie to watch although not much happens in the middle of the film. However, the picture’s ambiguous ending will probably be a deal-breaker for many audience members who actually make it through to the end. That’s because it’s so open-ended that you’d have to watch the whole movie again to figure out what its point actually was.

The Weeknd stars in the film as himself (well more or less, anyway). He’s a musician who is passionate about his songs, but a doctor tells him he needs to destress and rest rather than perform at concerts. He ends up conflicted because he feels abandoned by a woman in his life who he leaves a rather nasty telephone message for. Barry Keoghan serves as The Weeknd’s manager, Lee, who is a support system for his client, but also rather pushy as well.

In the interim, scenes of Jenna Ortega’s character, Anima, are displayed which feature Anima burning down a home in the middle of nowhere and driving away from the scene of the crime. She goes to a gas station and stocks up on gas for a very particular reason. She’s later seen at one of the Weeknd’s concerts where the star seems to be struggling to please his crowd of screaming fans. Anima connects with the artist and, soon, Anima and The Weeknd are costumed up for Halloween and having fun together while going on what resembles a date while they are trying to evade a seemingly disgruntled Lee.

This film then has The Weeknd trying to abandon Anima after she bares her soul to him about her real-life problems that make her feel conflicted. Anima doesn’t play around, though, and soon she ties The Weeknd to a bed in a hotel room and plays his songs while asking him to provide her with the meanings behind the songs and the people they were influenced by.

As the film develops its plot, it exposes The Weeknd’s tortured soul as he searches for meaning in his life outside of his art (which is his music). As an actor, the artist delves deep into his character which eventually culminates in him belting out a tune for Anima as gasoline has just been poured all over him by the crazed character played by Ortega.

Of course, a movie like this is only as good as what you can take from it. If you’re not a music star, a betrayed lover of one or a jealous fan, there’s little to take away from the picture. Ortega delivers some of her best on-screen work to date, but she’s given a character which only has depth in certain intervals of the picture. She’s not fully layered as a character purposefully, and that could anger audiences looking to sympathize with her. I don’t know if we’re supposed to really relate to Ortega, but if we’re not, then what’s the point?

This film is visually stunning to behold from flashy mirrors, colorful on-stage performances and stylish lighting choices. On the other hand, the small cast is often hit-and-miss. Barry Keoghan, in particular, proves to ultimately falter in his brief role within the film mainly because his character makes a key choice late in the picture which is rather inane when calling the police would have made much more sense. Keoghan is too easy-going in a role which called for more edge.

There’s a scene where The Weeknd goes out onto abandoned streets which is a noble feat of filmmaking if it was, indeed, shot with nobody around and without visual effects. This movie provides so much mystery and reels the viewer in, but there’s nothing really there at the end. You can try to decipher the meaning of the Weeknd’s tune he belts out, but more was required for this movie to work as a film. It’s a beautifully wrapped present that feels hollow inside.

While The Weeknd’s performance is actually quite strong and Ortega gets many moments to shine (with one particular monologue standing out significantly), the ending proves to be a barrier to recommending Hurry Up Tomorrow. It doesn’t answer the questions that need to be answered, and it doesn’t prove to be satisfying from a cinematic standpoint. With great music, solid ideas and decent acting, the movie needed to be shaped more into something that makes a lot more sense. As it plays now, it feels like it’s almost all style with too little substance backing it up.

Rating: 5.5/10

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