HBO drama The Idol: Lily-Rose Depp plays a troubled pop star in The Weeknd’s shallow celebrity satire, which wastes the casting of Blackpink’s Jennie

HBO’s The Idol starring Lily-Rose Depp follows a troubled young pop diva who falls for a mysterious self-help guru, played by Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd

Despite promising to be a barbed depiction of the entertainment industry, The Idol is a tacky drama that settles into a vacuous, painfully unsexy tone

Reading Time:3 minutes

Abel “The Weeknd“ Tesfaye (left) and Lily-Rose Depp in a still from “The Idol”, a shallow celebrity satire that follows a troubled young pop diva. Photo: HBO Go

Published: 4:45pm, 6 Jun 2023Updated: 4:47pm, 6 Jun 2023

Inheriting HBO’s prime-time slot – previously home of such celebrated prestige shows as Succession and Game of Thrones – is sensual celebrity satire The Idol, wielding all the emotional and narrative heft of a TikTok video.

Created by Abel Tesfaye, previously known as The Weeknd, together with writer Reza Fahim and director Sam Levinson, this tacky, tactless drama follows a troubled young pop diva who falls for a mysterious self-help guru when at her most vulnerable.

Lily-Rose Depp – daughter of Hollywood’s own wayward leading man Johnny Depp – takes the lead role of Jocelyn, while Tesfaye gifts himself top billing as the mysterious Tedros.

Confrontational and unabashed from the outset, The Idol opens guns a-blazing, with a bold declaration that it will be taking celebrity culture to task.

We are first introduced to Jocelyn in unflinching close-up, as she stares – longingly? lustfully? – into the camera, barely covered by a skimpy red silk gown. As the camera pulls back, we discover that she is in the middle of posing for a splashy photo shoot at her luxurious Hollywood home.

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