The Basics
Where To Watch: HBO, MAX
Starring: Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Lily-Rose Depp, Suzanna Son
Description: After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros, a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest, darkest, depths of her soul? (IMDb)
Trailer
Critics’ Chatter
“The same audiences that fell hard for Euphoria — another show about the terrors of being young — will likely do the same for this one. It is buzzy, brazen television that will do exactly what it set out to do: get people talking.”
-Douglas Greenwood, Vogue | Read Full Review Here
“The Idol is a raucous, engrossing ride on an industry nightmare train bound to careen off a cliff, and the way it captures the sickness of the fame machine will stay with you long after the credits roll.”
-Lex Briscuso, Mashable | Read Full Review Here
“The script seems calculated to fool audiences into thinking they’re observing how Hollywood operates, when so much of it amounts to tawdry clichés”
-Peter Debruge, Variety | Read Full Review Here
“Levinson applies his efficient and stylish direction to every scene. Some of them have momentum, others are contradictory and most of them are confusing. It makes you wonder if in trying so hard to be transgressive, the show ultimately becomes regressive.”
-Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter | Read Full Review Here
“Levinson’s whole deal is not for everyone — and often not for me — but The Idol offers up enough regular old entertainment to balance out his aggressive flourish and the bluster of his thematic ambitions.”
-Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair | Read Full Review Here
Timeline Talk
The Idol is anti-feminist spectacle. It’s a bastardization of the original artistic concept that was created by a woman. Her perspective as an artist was dismissed and excluded from the end product by The Weeknd. Levinson was brought on to re-center the male POV as dominant.
— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) May 23, 2023
HBO Sundays going from Succession & Barry to The Idol pic.twitter.com/KCCGiiH0fH
— The Film Drunk (@thefilmdrunk) May 24, 2023
