The Weeknd‘s “Red Terror” video sets a disturbing stop-motion scene for the track from Hurry Up Tomorrow, Abel Tesfaye’s new album and the ending to the trilogy that began with Dawn FM and After Hours.
A young being experiences an unsettling transformation in what looks like an Upside Down-esque alternate dimension in “Red Terror.”
The music video is a visual interpretation of lyrics that seemingly have Abel addressing a child, from the perspective of a parent, with an allegorical title referencing the Ethiopian Red Terror, a period of violet political repression that resulted in the deaths of thousands in the late ’70s. Abel was born in Canada and raised by his mother and grandmother; his parents had emigrated from Ethiopia in the ’80s.
The work’s end credit screen displays that “Red Terror” is a film by Eddie Alcazar, known most recently (outside of his new work with Abel) for the science fiction thriller Divinity, which was co-produced with Steven Soderbergh and debuted at Sundance in 2023.
In fact, Alcazar also helmed The Weeknd’s dark “Open Hearts” performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired ahead of the weekend. “Open Hearts” got more than the typical late-night stage treatment — its last two minutes shifted to the showing of a cinematic production.
The latter half of “Open Hearts” precedes what’s to come in “Red Terror,’ and though they’re not labeled as a part one and two, they arguably should be watched together.
Hurry Up Tomorrow features 22 tracks, including previously-released singles like the Playboi Carti-assisted “Timeless,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “São Paulo” with Anitta.
Watch The Weeknd’s “Open Hearts” (as shown on Kimmel) and “Red Terror” videos below.
