With The Idol‘s release less than a week away, HBO Max and The Weeknd have now dropped the highly anticipated show’s official trailer — and it’s steamy.
In the minute-and-a-half preview, viewers get a glimpse into how the “Blinding Lights” popstar’s character, a nightclub owner-turned-cult leader named Tedros, steadily takes over the life and career of Lily-Rose Depp’s co-starring character, a rising pop star named Jocelyn, throughout the series. “You’re the American dream,” he tells her in a voiceover in the trailer, which dropped Tuesday (May 30), over clips of the two making out and dancing under club lights. “Rags to riches. Trailers to mansions. You are f–king Jocelyn.”
“He’s brainwashed her,” says a concerned, offscreen voice later on, followed by a creepy clip of The Weeknd’s Tedros cackling.
“You’re not a human being. You’re a star,” he then tells Jocelyn at the end of the new trailer, which also includes scenes of the pair engaging in Fifty Shades of Grey-esque foreplay that Tedros insists will help her become a better performer.
Co-created by The Weeknd and Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson, The Idol made its world premiere last week at Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standard five-minute standing ovation from the audience but was afterward tanked by largely negative early reviews. The musical drama, which is billed as the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood,” will become available for streaming on HBO Max — now known as just Max after a recent name change — on June 4.
Suzanna Son, Rachel Sennott, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Hank Azaria, BLACKPINK’s Jennie and more are also in the show’s cast, though the new trailer includes less of their characters than previous The Idol teasers.
Watch the new official trailer for HBO’s The Idol above.
