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The Idol (2023)

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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27

USER SCORE

Overwhelming dislike based on 177 Ratings

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0.7

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0.7	Your Score
0.7	User Score Overwhelming dislike based on 177 Ratings

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The Idol

Now Playing: The Idol

The Idol (2023)

Series Details & Credits

HBO | Release Date: June 4, 2023

Summary: Pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) falls for nightclub owner Tedros (Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye) in this drama series co-created by Sam Levinson, Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim.

Creator: Sam Levinson

Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Music

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Stream On

Recent Episodes

tbd
S1:E6. The Idol
Air Date: July 16, 2024
tbd
S1:E5. Jocelyn Forever
Air Date: July 2, 2023
tbd
S1:E4. Stars Belong to the World
Air Date: June 25, 2023

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

27

Positive:

1

Mixed:

7

Negative:

16

Critic Reviews

80

The Independent Nick Hilton

Jun 5, 2023

Season 1 Review: It comes close to some profound insight into our times. Striking and sordid, you’ll want to jump straight in the shower after an hour in The Idol’s polluting company. Read full review

48

Paste Magazine

Rory Doherty

May 23, 2023

Season 1 Review: It wants to shock, yes, to relish in the spectacle and traumas of a perilous, punishing, but always bewitching industry. But it also wants desperately to be liked, to be considered current, cutting, and empathetic. It’s not that Episodes 1 and 2 are outright failures, but they are always transparent. Read full review

40

The Guardian Rebecca Nicholson

Jun 5, 2023

Season 1 Review: It’s a big, dumb spectacle, and while I don’t hate it, by the end of the first hour, I am a little bored. Read full review

25

The Playlist Robert Daniels

May 23, 2023

Season 1 Review: Lily-Rose is fully committed. She gives everything: body, soul, and heart. And yet, you can’t help but wonder why she must answer for this much while receiving only morsels of a character. She deserves better. Unless “The Idol” changes drastically in the next few episodes, she will be nothing more than the window dressing of a concept in service of a misguided, gross, unaware, and untenable vanity project. Read full review

25

USA Today

Kelly Lawler

Jun 5, 2023

Season 1 Review: It is a hopeless try-hard, and worse, it's painfully dull. Starring Lily-Rose Depp and pop star The Weeknd (billed under his real name, Abel Tesfaye), “Idol” doesn’t work on any level. Read full review

20

Variety

Peter Debruge

May 23, 2023

Season 1 Review: Seems calculated to fool audiences into thinking they’re observing how Hollywood operates, when so much of it amounts to tawdry clichés lifted from Sidney Sheldon novels and softcore porn. “Showgirls” at least was a thinly veiled “All About Eve” remake, whereas “The Idol” plays like a sordid male fantasy. Read full review

0

ABC News

Peter Travers

Jun 9, 2023

Season 1 Review: The only thing shocking about this vanity production from The Weeknd, whose acting runs the gamut from A to B, is how shockingly bad it is. From its leering male gaze to its juvenile eroticism and cringy dialogue, the premiere episode hits a new low in creative ineptitude. Read full review

SEE ALL 24 REVIEWS

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0.7

User Reviews

10

Dmasaprll

Jun 5, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Damn, all actor & actress deeply immersed in their role, anwy congrats for your debut as actress Jennie!… Expand

28 of 170 users found this helpful28142

8

truerock

Jun 26, 2023

The HBO series The Idol includes a lot of graphic sex and nudity. It portrays issues that have generated a huge amount of analysis in the press and continues to be extremely relevant and critical to today's social context.

The series has garnered incredibly poor reviews which reflectsThe HBO series The Idol includes a lot of graphic sex and nudity. It portrays issues that have generated a huge amount of analysis in the press and continues to be extremely relevant and critical to today's social context.

The series has garnered incredibly poor reviews which reflects individual's inability to perceive the difference between real world reality and the fiction in a film or literature. Sometimes it is comical how people involve themselves in fictional entertainment and somehow forget that it is not real.

In the case of The Idol the subject of the series and the series itself are actually very close to each other. I just finished reading a review in my local newspaper of the Idol where the critic completely lost himself in the character Tedros portrayed by Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (aka The Weekend) and was beside himself in his obvious emotional hatred of Tesfaye. Yes, it is absolutely universally accepted the Tesfaye is not a good actor, or a good person - perhaps even loathsome. But, in the context of The Idol that would be type-casting Tesfaye for the Tedros role. And, that is the issue of reality and fiction in The Idol having a juxtaposition that professional critics (and most individuals watching The Idol) cannot separate.

The issues covered in The Idol are extremely important and extremely relevant in the context of today's social environment. But, I rate film on the quality of its product. Obviously, with an HBO/Cinemax/Discovery budget the size here - it is an almost automatic that the quality of the technical aspect of the film will be good. The editing, cinematography, staging, costumes, etc, etc will be good. The creative aspect of the film... casting, writing, acting, directing (and, well editing) can not necessarily be purchased for any amount of money. Talented people are talented and paying them more money does not make them more talented.

So - anyway - casting Tesfay to play the role of a bad character is a completely rational thing to do. And lets' be clear... Samuel Levinson creates film that stares at things that normal people cannot abide. I find myself looking away when I can't stomach what is in his film - but, what is in Levinson's film is relevant and worthy.

And to reiterate - the subjects of The Idol are important, complex and currently not well understood (in my opinion). I've only watched part of The Idol. I may change my rating when I have seen more of the series.

And... oh... I almost forgot to comment on the blatant nudity and sex in The Idol. I'm not going to fractionate the issues of sex and nudity in films, literature or just life in general. Obviously, sex and nudity are an aspect of reality and there are a lot of very, very strong opinions regarding all kinds of aspects of them - especially in today's environment. I watch films that I find difficult to watch. Difficult to watch because they contain depictions of the most horrible things humanity has. Nudity and sex in and of themselves are not bad things - of course. Depicting them in film and literature is something beyond the scope of my film review of The Idol.

**************************************************************

I had an additional thought. I have recently written 2 reviews of films I rated highly that had a rapper for one of the lead roles. This is the second time I have said I did not like the rapper's acting. There may be something about a rapper's artistic skill set that I do not understand. I'm going to self-evaluate this issue in the future.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

8

albertbana

Jun 13, 2023

I really can’t understand why this show has such bad reviews. It’s very interesting, looking forward to the rest of it.

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

1

Lphone

Jun 29, 2023

Could have been good. If Tedros did not exist, if the writing was better, if they spent more time hashing out plot instead of cheap sex and torture scenes. And if we're gonna do sex scenes, can they at least be good ones? Hard to watch. The best part of the show was the supportingCould have been good. If Tedros did not exist, if the writing was better, if they spent more time hashing out plot instead of cheap sex and torture scenes. And if we're gonna do sex scenes, can they at least be good ones? Hard to watch. The best part of the show was the supporting characters. Worst was the writing, the acting, Jocelyn, Tedros and the whole torture BDSM storyline was horribly written. Dialogue is cringeworthy.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

0

moth3

Jul 2, 2023

Curious as to why you can't search this show on Metacritic? Maybe they don't want to be associated with a show that denigrates and glorifies the abuse of women? I hope so. I watched the entire series as the cast promised that it will all "make sense" and that is not the case. If this showCurious as to why you can't search this show on Metacritic? Maybe they don't want to be associated with a show that denigrates and glorifies the abuse of women? I hope so. I watched the entire series as the cast promised that it will all "make sense" and that is not the case. If this show gets another season, we know Max is going down. It's not often a show can turn me off of actors for their choices so definitively. How anyone with any integrity could agree to this is beyond me. And for all you contrarians: being contrary does not make you look smart, it makes you look like you can't think for yourself. This is the lowest of the low and everything that is wrong with America and the world at large. It's interesting to see the positive reviews just glaze over the misogyny and glorification of abuse. I can only attribute that to being weakend fans or misogynists themselves. There are plenty of other shows that touch on the toxicity of "the business" without promoting the abuse of women. I don't have a problem with nudity or sex, but when it's just for shock value, it is a problem. To cast Depp in this role after all she's been through is just sick. To compare this to "Basic Instinct" or anything Verhoeven has done is LAUGHABLE. To call this "important" or "necessary" is LAUGHABLE. Nothing any reviewer has written has backed this up. Watch "Dave" or "Atlanta" or "Girls5eva" or "Rap $hit" or "Nashville" or "Mozart in the Jungle" or "Mood" or VH1's "Behind the Music." I beg Hollywood to 86 Levinson and the Weakened from ever getting behind the camera; it was clearly a failure and is damaging to women.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

0

Gumdrop

Jun 18, 2023

About what you'd expect from the guy who gave us Euphoria. Much like Euphoria, the plot, acting and the actual show are an afterthought. Secondary to it's desperate attempt to be shocking and edgy. And it fails spectacularly. What they've created here is softcore pron that wishes it wasAbout what you'd expect from the guy who gave us Euphoria. Much like Euphoria, the plot, acting and the actual show are an afterthought. Secondary to it's desperate attempt to be shocking and edgy. And it fails spectacularly. What they've created here is softcore pron that wishes it was hardcore pron, with a bit of story jammed in to try and make it a TV series. I can think of at leats 5 series on HBO and Showtime that you'd be better off (re)watching them than this garbage.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

0

Gelatokakes

Jun 27, 2023

How can a show be a snore and a rousing cringefest at the same time? Look no further... The Idol, ladies and gentlemen!

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

SEE ALL 19 REVIEWS

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Seasons & Episodes

27

Series Overview
Season 1

27
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: June 4, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E6. The Idol
  Air Date: July 16, 2024
- tbd
  S1:E5. Jocelyn Forever
  Air Date: July 2, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E4. Stars Belong to the World
  Air Date: June 25, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E3. Daybreak
  Air Date: June 18, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E2. Double Fantasy
  Air Date: June 11, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E1. Pop Tarts & Rat Tales
  Air Date: June 4, 2023