Hurry Up Tomorrow’s 0% Tomatometer Bomb—And Why You Can’t Look Away

Oh, perfect. Another big-budget star vehicle that critics hate and the internet can’t stop gushing over. Jenna Ortega and The Weeknd’s freshly dropped thriller, Hurry Up Tomorrow, opened to a brutal 0% on Rotten Tomatoes (per Rotten Tomatoes’ official score page) yet somehow exploded into viral glory on Twitter and TikTok almost overnight. I don’t *want* to say “told you so,” but when you mix celebrity cameos, love-song siren calls and a director whose last hit was five years ago, you know you’re in for either a masterpiece or a dumpster fire. Spoiler alert: this one’s sizzling in the dumpster.

Critics from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter unleashed everything from “a tone-deaf plot” to “an avalanche of style over substance,” according to their April 12 reviews. And yes, they nailed it. The storyline hinges on Ortega’s character racing against the clock to thwart a city-wide blackout while The Weeknd pops up as a smooth-talking informant whose motivations make less sense than a Hollywood accountant’s budget. The script’s been called “paper-thin” by People Magazine, and the pacing “glacial” by Entertainment Weekly. Yet somehow fans can’t keep their eyes off the carnage.

Over on TikTok, reaction videos tagged #HurryUpTomorrow have amassed over 50 million views, where viewers play “spot the plot hole” in duets. One viral clip from @FilmFiend99 points out that the movie’s big twist was telegraphed so hard “a train couldn’t sneak past.” Another from @CinemaSkeptic crowns it “the best worst movie of the year.” On Instagram, Ortega’s 38.4 million followers tossed around memes about her “incredible acting amidst questionable script choices,” according to a quick scroll through her April 15 Stories. The Weeknd’s cameo soundtrack, which he co-composed, is also trending on Spotify with 2 million streams in three days, per Spotify Charts.

Here’s the kicker: box office receipts are doing just fine. Deadline reports an $18 million domestic haul against a $20 million budget—nothing to write home about, but watchers are buying tickets just to join the commentary train. So yeah, it’s possible to flop critically and still generate water-cooler heat. I’ll let you marinate on that one.

And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and Rotten Tomatoes, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Deadline, Spotify Charts, TikTok user videos
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed