The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow film hits theaters on May 16, and he revealed that his sleep paralysis diagnosis played a role in inspiring the movie.
Ahead of the film’s arrival, the singer spoke with The Fader earlier this week, when the superstar revealed that his suffering from sleep paralysis played a major role in inspiring Hurry Up Tomorrow. “There are no antagonists in this film,” he said. “I think that sleep paralysis is the enemy. One of the main concepts of this film is sleep paralysis.”
The Weeknd added that he has since gotten his sleep paralysis under control with better sleeping practices limiting his lucid dreaming.
“That is something that I was really dealing with, still am to this day, not as much as before, but they’re very vivid nightmares where you’re in bed and you’re half asleep, half awake,” he explained. “You’re aware of your surroundings, but you can’t move. You’re paralyzed for almost a minute. Sometimes you see a shadowy figure in the corner and you hear voices, sweet nothings. It’s saying nothing, but they’re voices.
The Toronto singer continued to say that lack of sleep was the biggest contributor to his sleep paralysis. “I did my research on it and it’s just a lack of sleep,” he concluded. “Your brain is still awake when you’re asleep. So my biggest medicine for it is just turn your phone off, turn the TV off, turn all the lights off. And yeah, you won’t get it. The irony is it’s got to all be dark and scary for you to sleep through the night.”
Hurry Up Tomorrow finds The Weeknd playing a fictionalized pop star version of himself while starring alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan in the psychological thriller directed by Trey Edward Shults.
The star gave fans a sneak peek into a scene from the film on Wednesday (May 7) on Instagram. The clip finds The Weeknd osing his voice, but he learns it was due to a psychological condition and not from physical harm.
The clip direclty mirrors the Weeknd’s real life, as Tesfaye was forced to cancel a show after he lost his voice while performing “Can’t Feel My Face” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in September 2022.
Before the film’s arrival, The Weeknd will embark on his After Hours Til Dawn Tour. The North American trek kicks off on May 9 in Phoenix. Playboi Carti and Mike Dean are slated to serve as the tour’s special guests.
Watch a Hurry Up Tomorrow trailer below and look for the movie in theaters on May 16.