The Idol is scheduled to stream on HBO from June 4 onwards.
The Idol, starring Lily Rose-Depp, The Weeknd and Jennie of BLACKPINK, premiered at Cannes 2023.
The much-spoken about series ‘The Idol’ premiered at Cannes 2023 and it had everyone talking. The international series, created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, features Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily Rose-Depp and The Weeknd in the lead. The series also marks BLACKPINK member Jennie’s international acting debut. While the videos from their red carpet appearance have already gone viral, the first reactions of The Idol are out and they are divided.
On Monday night, following the premiere of the series, Variety reported the crowd gave the cast and creator of the series a five-minute-long standing ovation. Videos of Abel and Sam accepting the honour and expressing their gratitude to the reactions have surfaced online.
However, not everyone seemed on the same page. A few who watched the series at Cannes took to Twitter and revealed they are not a fan of the show.
Lots of strong reactions to #TheIdol out of #Cannes2023 — ranging from “I hated it” to “the TV version of clickbait” to “I don’t need to see any more of Lily-Rose Depp naked.”— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 22, 2023
“The Idol,” or 50 SHADES OF TESFAYE: A Pornhub-homepage odyssey starring Lily Rose Depp’s areolas and The Weeknd’s greasy rat tail. Love that this will help launch the HBO Max rebrand, should slot nicely next to House Hunters!— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 22, 2023
Yeah, THE IDOL has the EUPHORIA vibes you might expect but it’s really more like somebody put BLACK SWAN, SUCCESSION, and SECRETARY in a blender and let it rip. Prepare yourself for quite the discourse… #cannes— erickohn (@erickohn) May 22, 2023
The Idol convo in the theater. “I hated it.” “Garbage.” “I’m disgusted..” “She’s way better than I thought she’d be.”— Tatiana Siegel (@TatianaSiegel27) May 22, 2023
Los Angeles Times’ review of the series reads, “The Idol is writer-director Sam Levinson’s follow-up to the hit HBO drama Euphoria, with a similar penchant for graphic sex, cute clothes and self-destruction. In other words, a, well, naked attempt to bring the TikTok generation back to cinemas with a tantalizing nepo-baby vibe, along with hints of scandal.”
“Revenge porn photos of bodily fluids on Depp’s face, masturbation with ice cubes, nightclub-owning scam artists and vile Hollywood sycophants populated the first two episodes of the already-controversial series,” Variety’s review of the series read.
The Idol has been making headlines for its raunchy teasers and trailers, and for plot since it was announced. We’ll have to wait until June 4, when it releases, to see audience reactions.