After months of reports detailing a disastrous production, an exodus of cast and crew, and poor reviews out of the Cannes Film Festival, HBO’s music industry drama The Idol, about a bad girl pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who falls for a self-help guru and cult leader (Canadian singer-turned-actor Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), premiered on Sunday night.
Tesfaye co-created the series with Euphoria showrunner Sam Levinson — and dear god, someone should have stopped them.
The show opens with a tediously long sequence where Jocelyn (Depp) is posing for a partly nude photo shoot, writhing and purring for the camera, as one does. Nearby, her creative