The Weeknd's film 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan gets panned by critics

The Weeknd's film,Hurry Up Tomorrow, has been released, and the project, which serves as a companion piece to his album of the same name, has received poor reviews from critics.

Starring as a fictionalised version of himself, it follows The Weeknd - real name Abel Tesfaye - as the musician grapples with insomnia and "pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence" in the 105-minute thriller.

The cast also includes Wednesday star Jenna Ortega as Anima, and Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan as Lee.

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Despite this star-studded lineup, the film hasn't gone down well among critics, with it scoring just 16 per cent on the film and TV review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

"The music in the film is great, but Hurry Up Tomorrow also oscillates between a vanity project and a deeper exploration of trauma and abuse," said Screen Rant's Mae Abdulbaki.

"There are moments of clarity in the film — the way it’s shot and edited speaks of a chaotic mental state that also underscores feelings of being overwhelmed — but it’s also not as deep as it thinks it is."

While The Guardian's Andrew Lawrence gave the movie two out of five stars and wrote, "Ultimately, it’s little more than an emo rocker imagining what it would be like if he turned to his unhinged stalker for therapy – and thinking that makes him more evolved than the cavalier sonic rebels of yore.

"A well-constructed film could have really underscored the irony in that. But Tomorrow is too murky, meandering and self-indulgent an inside joke for audiences to remember it for more than its smirking moments. In time the Weeknd may come to regret this too, a missed opportunity."

Indie Wire's Charles Bramesco described it as an "emotionally threadbare vanity project" with "all Skips, no Repeats."

"If the unbearable weight of massive talent is really so crazy-making, that unwieldy creativity should be set free, however messy. Or, if I can just say what I mean: making audiences feel nostalgic about Kanye West? In this cultural economy?

Additionally, the Associated Press's Maria Sherman called it "an exciting vanity project with surrealist imagination but stiff writing, no stakes, limited emotional weight and an unclear narrative."

"'Hurry Up Tomorrow' bears all the signs of pop star hubris masquerading as artistic candor, despite game performances by Jenna Ortega and Barry Keogan to prop up the budding thespian," Variety's Todd Gilchrist described.

Although the film has a poor critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences appear to be more of a fan of it as the Popcornmeter score has given it 75 per cent.

Elsewhere, The Weeknd donates $2 million to Gaza families, and Fan grabs sign from someone blocking their view at The Weeknd concert.

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