Trey Edward Shults Talks Vulnerability, Visuals & The Weeknd in HURRY UP TOMORROW

Abel Tesfaye in HURRY UP TOMORROW | Image courtesy of Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate

By Shannon McGrew

In HURRY UP TOMORROW, the latest film from Trey Edward Shults (Waves, Krisha, It Comes at Night), a musician (Abel Tesfaye) plagued by insomnia is pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence. 

For the release of HURRY UP TOMORROW, Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew spoke with director Trey Edward Shults. During their chat, they discussed everything from how the project came together to the emotional depth of the story and working with a powerhouse cast. 

HURRY UP TOMORROW is a collaboration between you and Abel Tesfaye. How did that partnership come about, and what was the experience like working so closely together?

Trey Edward Shults: It was organic and effortless. When I first met him, it was just a general meeting. He had an idea for a movie. I never imagined that my next movie would be a movie with him. I was taken aback by him, and I really liked him. We just connected, and we had similar tastes and similar references. He also loved my movies. It wasn’t BS; he genuinely loved and seemed to get my work. He had this idea that was basically exploring the most vulnerable moment of his life. Naturally, that was a jumping-off point for me, which was fascinating. I was like, okay, if you want to start from that place, where can we take this? 

When I made Krisha, I felt I had figured out the cheat code to make something special. You have to work with people you love. Make something you believe in, and even if it doesn’t turn out great, it’s coming from a real, genuine place. The second I met him, I was shocked. I was like, man, I kind of love this guy, let’s see where this goes. That was in October, and we were shooting the movie by February. In our meeting in October, the script didn’t even exist. That’s how quickly it all happened. It felt like crazy kismet. I hadn’t been that inspired by anything since I wrote Waves, so the light bulbs were firing off, and I got really excited. 

Jenna Ortega, Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults and Abel Tesfaye in HURRY UP TOMORROW | Image courtesy of Andrew Cooper/Lionsgate

Similar to your previous films, this film's visuals tell the story. How did you approach using visuals to help drive the narrative? 

Trey Edward Shults: It was kind of the same approach. The visuals of It Comes At Night are more observed. It plays more in objectivity, but Krisha is a fully subjective experience. So all our visual choices: why we’re shooting this one in a oner, why we’re changing aspect ratio, why we’re going to anamorphic glass, it’s all to be honest with her headspace, it’s like cinematic empathy. We’re trying to make the audience feel exactly how that main character feels and go on this ride with them. That’s a hundred percent with this movie. 

Out of everything I’ve made, this new movie probably echoes Krisha’s film grammar more than anything. I think even thematically, it’s probably the closest aligned with Krisha. You have the meta angle of my Aunt Krisha not playing herself, but she’s kind of playing a character we created. In HURRY UP TOMORROW, Abel isn’t just playing him; he’s playing a character of himself that we created. Visually, it’s always with the narrative for me. Where’s our main character’s head? How do we express that for an audience, hopefully compellingly, and hopefully they don’t even notice it. When we’re changing aspect ratio, different glass, when we’re doing all of this, it’s just to make you, whether you realize it or not, empathize more with our character and let you live and go on that journey with them. It’s trying to push the subjectivity even further. 

Along with Abel Tesfaye, the film features an incredible cast, including Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Can you walk us through the casting process and what you were looking for when bringing these actors on board? 

Trey Edward Shults: The cool thing about the movie is that once you take a step back, you realize the movie is literally just three people. It’s Abel, Jenna, and Barry, and you barely see other characters on screen. I feel like it’s very much a three-hander, and Barry and Jenna have to deliver some great performances. Jenna, especially, we’ve never seen a performance like this from her, and she blew me away—both of them. I was a fan, but Abel pitched them to me. 

It started with Barry because they already knew each other and were friends. Abel suggested Barry, and I was like, I love Barry, he’s incredible, but he might be too young. He might not look like he could be your [manager], but I’m down to explore it. Abel had me come to his house and hang out with Abel and Barry, and the second I saw them in a room together, I was like, oh, this is it. That made me so happy cause I’m a massive fan of Barry and he’s in some of my favorite movies. His performances are incredible. He agreed to do the film before we even had a full script, let alone him reading a full script. It was just natural and organic. 

With Jenna, again, Abel sent her to me. I had only seen her in X and 2022’s Scream, and I thought she was great in both. This movie emotionally goes to some heavier places that she’s not necessarily showing in these, but I was curious. The second I met her, I just knew I loved her. I loved how smart she was and her perspective, and I connected to her as a human being. Abel, Barry, Jenna, and I don’t all have normal backgrounds, especially for this industry. We all have different paths that we connected on, and she continued to blow me away while making this movie. When we shot, she was 20 years old, and I told her the sky is the limit for you. It’s shocking the level of talent she has at her age. In the third act of this movie, she has to put a lot of it on her shoulders and, in my opinion, wouldn’t work without her performance. I just love her to death. 

When audiences watch HURRY UP TOMORROW, what emotional or cinematic journey do you hope they go on?

Trey Edward Shults: Great question. My ambition with everything I do is to make something fresh, different, and new. On a base level, I hope it feels different, fresh, and exciting. Two, I hope it feels experiential. I hope it feels like a rollercoaster. It plays with genres; it goes through different tones. I hope the movie’s very surprising to people, and if they think they have an idea of where it will go from the trailers, they don’t. I’m very proud of that. I’m proud of the tone shifts and the different places we go. If you want to go in and just see something fresh, new and go on a ride with it, 100% that, but if you also want to have a conversation with your friend after you leave and look into these richer, deeper threads that are going on psychologically and thematically, they are 100% there and fun to explore.

HURRY UP TOMORROW arrives in theaters May 16th.