The Weeknd is verging on a mental breakdown in first look at his feature debut, “Hurry Up Tomorrow”

Just days after releasing his already acclaimed sixth studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, is ready to deliver another gift to fans: a sneak peek at the long-awaited movie that shares its title.

The multi-platinum artist, who made his triumphant return to the Grammys last night, leads his first feature film as a version of himself — "a musician plagued by insomnia [who] gets pulled into an odyssey with a stranger (Jenna Ortega) who begins to unravel the very core of his existence," per an official synopsis.

"It's about an artist, you could say, on the verge of a mental breakdown," director Trey Edward Shults tells Entertainment Weekly as part of our exclusive first look at the film. "He meets this woman, and they go on this odyssey together. It's a mix of psychological thriller and drama. I honestly feel like I've never seen a movie quite like it."

"This experience was really introspective and cathartic for me," says Tesfaye, who made his acting debut in the HBO series The Idol. "From writing to production and through post — I realized just how much of a catalyst this art form can be for conversations about our emotions, mental health, and vulnerabilities."

Arriving in theaters on May 16, the suspense thriller, also starring Barry Keoghan, was written by Shults (Waves and It Comes at Night), Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim, who co-created The Idol alongside the singer and Sam Levinson. When he first met with Shults, Tesfaye already had ideas for the film, but once the director came on board, he was adamant that he make the story his own.

Related: The Weeknd breaks his Grammys boycott with surprise performance

"We hit it off like crazy. He was not what I expected," Shults says. "It totally caught me off guard, and we just gelled as humans. I really liked his energy and I liked his approach with creativity. And then he had ideas for this movie, and I sat with it. He emboldened me. He was like, 'If we do something, I want you to make it a Trey movie, not just something about the album."

"Trey's vision is boundless, and his films are always emotionally captivating, unlike anyone else," Tesfaye says, explaining why he sought out the director. "When I sat in the audience at his TIFF premiere of Waves, I just had this feeling that he was meant to be our collaborator on this project. He took the already complex themes of the film and made them resonate in every scene, creating a psychological journey that audiences won't forget."

That early trust led Shults to an epiphany when writing that he hadn't experienced since working on his 2019 drama Waves. "I got crazy inspired with him. There wasn't really music; it wasn't like, 'Here's an album, I want to make a movie.' It was more like, 'Let's make a movie.' He had some pieces of music, and at that point, it was primarily demos and instrumentals, and he just sent me those, and I got on a crazy writing flow with him."

With Tesfaye playing a version of himself, Shults needed to get to know the man behind the artist. "We did these little therapy sessions where we'd do long phone calls and talk about his past and his life so I could learn where his headspace was at different times," he explains. "I feel like we created a character that isn't exactly him, but it's honest to his soul and what he could have been if things went differently in life. I think his character is in need of self-reflection. He's kind of at a crossroads in his life."

Tesfaye found himself at a real-life crossroads in the fall of 2022 when, for the first time in his career, he lost his voice mid-performance. When doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong, the "Starboy" singer realized the problem was mental. His voice ended up returning a few days later, but the trauma of losing control of his instrument, even for a short time, left scars. "I knew that I really needed to sit the f--- down and figure out my life," he told Variety. "I'd had a kind of a mental breakdown, which is pretty much what this new album's about."

Related: The Weeknd delays release of Hurry Up Tomorrow album, cancels L.A. concert amid ongoing wildfires

"I met him after he lost his voice, and it was clearly a very huge impactful moment for him in his life and on the forefront of his mind," Shults says. The incident was so impactful that it led Tesfaye to recreate much of the album, which he had already started recording before he lost his voice.

"I came in at the time of total overhaul on the album," Shults adds. "We got really inspired to draw on that and draw on that personal life and use it in the film."

But with Tesfaye's limited acting experience, Shults admits he took "a big risk" putting so much on the singer's shoulders. "I had not seen him act in anything except his music videos, basically," the director says. "But I just had faith because of the energy in our connection… I remember the first day shooting with him, we got a scene, and I was like, 'Oh, okay, we're in good hands.'"

"I think when anyone starts a new project, there's a fear of the unknown, especially when you're stepping into a new medium," Tesfaye notes. "Now that the film is complete, I feel incredibly lucky to have Trey, Jenna, and Barry with me. They were monumental in bringing this film to life in such a unique and special way. Trey is a true visionary, and Jenna and Barry bring an intensity that I don't think anyone has seen before."

Echoing his star, Shults calls Ortega "one of the most talented people" he's ever worked with. "She's phenomenal in the film, and I don't think we've ever seen a performance like this by her," he adds. "I was a fan, and she still shocked me with her talent and power, and I'm so excited for people to see her in this movie in a new light."

"I actually didn’t think that I was right for it initially," Ortega reveals. "But through conversation and built trust with Trey and Abel, it felt like a team and vision I wanted to work with."

The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star describes the film as an "experimental telling of what it means to be an artist who is changing, evolving, managing their past while trying not to fear the unknown. What a mental block can do to one’s sense of self."

Related: The Weeknd says 'self-imposed pressure' caused him to lose voice and end L.A. show: 'It was the last straw'

Speaking about her role, Ortega says, "It was my understanding while shooting that my character, Anima, is a version of Abel. A side of him that the persona the Weeknd doesn’t show as much." She adds, "There were many iterations of Ani as the new script drafts came in, but I just loved that she consistently took no s--- and felt everything intensely."

Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin), Tesfaye's real-life friend, rounds out the leads as Abel's manager, Lee. "I think there's a lot of love from him, and he has a history with Abel's character, but I think there are some darker intentions with him as well," Shults teases. "Working with Barry's amazing. He has a different process than Jenna. He's kind of an incredible wild animal or something that you have to not tame but just capture. His energy is so raw and exciting."

Keoghan calls working on the film an "incredible experience — not just because of the story, but because of the way it was told." He continues, "It’s the kind of film that captivates you, pushes you to think, and lingers long after you watch it." Of collaborating with Tesfaye, he adds, "He’s always been an artist who pours so much of himself into his work, and seeing him bring that same passion and vision to filmmaking was inspiring. He’s created something bold, immersive, and unlike anything else, and I can’t wait for people to experience it.”

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As for whether this film might mark the last hurrah for Tesfaye's Weeknd persona, an idea the artist has been teasing for some time (and even seems to be suggesting in the very title of the album/movie), Shults says that is "absolutely" a possibility. "I tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it's very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it. And for people that aren't his fans and don't know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through."

Hurry Up Tomorrow is produced by Tesfaye and his production company, Manic Phase, along with Fahim, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss. Ortega, Shults, Michael Rapino, Ryan Kroft, Wassim "Sal" Slaiby, and Harrison Huffman serve as executive producers.

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