Don’t rush to this cinematic train wreck.

Trey Edward Scults’ last movie “Waves” was a powerful film that showed us two siblings going through a crisis and trying to find their inner peace. The first part had the brother as an athlete who ignored his doctor’s warnings of getting his arm fixed and ends up destroying his career and his life. And the second part had the sister suffering through the aftermath and finding her joy and serenity with a nice young man.

The Weeknd’s last movie was “Uncut Gems,” a glorious film with Adam Sandler playing a New York jeweler and gambler who ends up in hot water while dealing with the bet of his life. The rapper, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is one of the celebrities in that gem.

Both “Waves” and “Uncut Gems” came out in 2019. Six years later, we have Schultz and The Weeknd collaborating for the first time in “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which is a cover version of the singer’s album, but has no sense of direction. In fact, it thinks it can overdose on the songs, parties, behaviors, and arguments without even thinking of the consequences that emerge with them. It doesn’t even know what to think of itself.

We see the singer as a fictionalized version of himself as he deals with his insomnia, his life choices that made his girlfriend leave him, and the stress that causes him to lose his voice on stage. He also see him disowning his Irish manager (Barry Keoghan) and falling for a troubled young fan (Jenna Ortega).

Out of these two supporting characters, she wants to find the source of his problems. However, as the movie opens, she burns down a house, indicating that she must be crazy or hate someone. She wants to help him, but she also has to knock him unconscious, tie him to the bed (A little “Misery” for him, isn’t it?), playing his music to break him, and even resorting to murder. I don’t think she qualifies as a supporting character. And this is played by the same actress, who has proven herself to be a fine young actress in her 20s with movies like the latest “Scream” entries, “X,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” and “Death of a Unicorn.”

“Purple Rain” is an iconic cult classic with Prince singing and acting as a musician caught at the wrong place. “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is a major disaster with The Weeknd caught with the wrong script and the wrong direction. A movie starring him and directed by Schults should be exhilarating, but it doesn’t exhilarate us. It just acts like a music video that annoys and depresses us, as the screenplay has no moral values or judgement. Yes, his character has his regrets and insomnia can be problematic, but the way he expresses them are so flat and inert that you don’t even pay attention or care about what he has to say here.

It’s understandable why “Better Man” bombed at the box office, on account of not many American movie-goers knowing who the singer Robbie Williams is, but that film was passionate about the singer’s problems. It was able to examine Williams, who depicts himself in the film as a chimpanzee. “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is far from an examination.

Besides his appearance in “Uncut Gems,” I also think he’s a talented singer with songs like “I Feel it Coming” or “Can’t Feel My Face.” So, I don’t hate him at all; I just hate his latest movie. This might seem like a passion project to him, but to us, it feels like looking at a blank wall and wondering what’s the point. You can hear his songs in many formats; you don’t need to waste your life on this film.

☠️ Poison for the Mind (0/4)