Displaying items by tag: Riley Keogh

HURRY UP TOMORROW

US, 2025, 105 minutes, Colour.

Abel Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keogh, Ash T, Paul L.Davis.

Directed byTrey Edward Shults,

The many fans of the very successful recording artist, The Weekend, actual name, Abel Tesfaye, have enthused on social media how much they like this film, quite a number giving it 10 out of 10.

For the many audiences who are not familiar with The Weekend, his career, his songs, his singing style, there is a curiosity value, but probably also some bewilderment.

The Weekend plays a variation on his own character, a successful singer on tour, many of his songs throughout the film, many with autobiographical touches. He is something of a sad, even morose, character in his manner and demeanour, manifesting this more and more as the film goes on, more depressed, lugubrious in his reactions, often moody, with violent touches.

A number of commentators have labelled this film as a vanity project, cowritten and produced by the singer himself, aligning the narrative with songs from his most recent album, definitely with a focus on himself. In fact, at the opening, he is gazing into the mirror, gazing at himself, preening, doing weightlifting near a mirror, then dressing for his going on stage, a long corridor processing towards the stage, the dramatic moment, his entry, the absolute acclaim.

But, he is conscious of losing his voice, tantrums, walking off, then a very powerful scene, in fact, with Irish actor, Barry Keoghan, playing his manager, drawing on a repertoire of persuasion to coax and force the singer to go back on stage.

In the meantime, there is what seems an unrelated episode, a young woman, Jenna Ortega (called Anima in the credits, a nod to the psychology of Carl Jung and the feminine aspect of a male?) angrily destroying a house and setting it alight and driving away. Then she is at the concert, rapt in the singer, his seeing her, her coming to him in his dressing room, then to the hotel, the night together, she something of a stalker, explaining her interpretation of his songs, and his mixed reaction.

How can this develop? Realistically? Symbolically? The stalker tying the singer up, overpowering him, the confrontation with the manager, fight, death… And how real is this?, Symbolic? Best explained by those enthusiastic fans who give the film 10 out of 10.