The Idol on HBO Max is not exactly well received

The Weeknd decided to do what many singing artists before him have done: take a detour into acting. Or actually, I should just say Abel Tesfaye, because that's his real name and he decided to drop his stage name last month. So it's Abel, and he currently shines in the new series The Idol, which is available on HBO Max. Well, shines... The series is being completely panned everywhere.

He stars here alongside Lily-Rose Depp (yes, the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis). She plays Jocelyn, an artist whose last tour has completely gone off the rails. She wants to establish herself as the best artist in America and gets help from Tedros, played by Tesfaye. He is the owner of a nightclub with a sketchy past, and the two fall in love.

The Idol is a bit kinky here and there, with bondage and more of that sort of thing, but it doesn't help at all. The series is labeled as the worst of the year, and despite all the sex scenes, people find it particularly boring, with The Guardian even going so far as to call it ’not sexy‘.

CNN calls the series ‘extraordinarily boring’ and Tesfaye's acting doesn't exactly receive passing grades. And while the series did receive a standing ovation in Cannes, that doesn't mean much these days.

The Idol is available on HBO Max starting this week, but watching is at your own risk. Unless you might have trouble sleeping, because if we are to believe the reviews, this series could very well be the solution.

Image: HBO, Warner Bros