The new movie Hurry Up Tomorrow, in theaters now, stars chart-topping pop singer Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and features a lot of his music. But according to the movie’s director, you don’t need to be a fan of The Weeknd or his many hits to enjoy the psychological thriller.
Director Trey Edward Shults told ABC Audio at the movie’s New York premiere, “If you’re not a Weeknd fan, I think it’s a great movie regardless. It’s a singular, unique experience.”
“My goal with everything is to try to make something I haven’t seen before, because the movies that have blown me away in my life … were movies that I felt like, ‘Whoa, I’ve never seen something like that. What did I just experience? I loved it, but that was different,'” he explains. “And that’s what we tried to do with this.”
Shults said that even though the movie is about a singer named Abel, and was inspired by an incident from The Weeknd’s real life, he “tried to make it work in a way where you can take a ride with it.”
And while you’re on that ride, Shults notes, “New genres come up along the way. Hopefully it surprises you. It’s a compelling experience. But also, if you want to look deeper, there’s a whole richer thing going on, and you can have some great conversations with a friend after it.”
If you are a Weeknd fan, Shults says there are “so many connections” to the singer’s body of work. However, he insists, “You do not need to be one to enjoy it.”
Hurry Up Tomorrow debuted in the box office top 10 after its release on May 16. Weeknd’s companion album of the same name debuted at #1 when it was released in January.
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