Pop Tarts & Rat Tales

Some artists are not meant to be actors. The Weeknd is a good singer, a great artist but not a good actor. There is 0 chemistry between Lily Rose and The Weeknd, the romantic scenes are cringe. Lily Rose does fine but the series lacks direction. The character of Jocelyn is loosely based on Britney Spears. The show does address Hollywood's obsession with romanticizing mental illness and how they don't care if a pop star who is supposed to set some standards in the society is just out there spreading herself. Unfortunately, this series lacks a good direction, the cast could have been better. I guess Jared Leto would have done a fab job but lets see what more this series can bring.

A lot of this so far almost confirms what i believed - that the controversy was purely speculation and marketing tactic, the content is nowhere near as graphic as i expected and feels way more implied, and people blowed it out of proportion without even watching, however this is no euphoria, and assasination nation was better so far to, it's good but nothings blown me away other then the cinematography, decent industry satire with good performances, definitely feels like it's going to build up more of a plot though as this is only a pilot, i'd recommend for the style more then anything honestly.

Unsure why this series is being review bombed. I feel maybe it's the type of show/film that isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is fine... except they marketed it to everyone. And it just... isn't. It reminds me of French cinema in that it's told somewhat like a docudrama.

While I think the first episode had "issues" there's lots of interesting things at play. I think the filmmaking is very well done - particularly the opening shot of the first episode. And also watching the stars team scramble when someone posts some unsavory content about the Depp's character on Twitter, ruining her plan to make a comeback.

Everyone is also saying The Weeknd can't act, should stick to music. I don't think that's necessarily fair - his character, so far - is poorly written. Can't imagine what another actor could bring to it.

I'm probably gonna watch all of it because I love Hank Azaria and he's really funny in his role here.

Not for everyone - not necessarily good - but interesting - something to keep an eye on, if you think you can.

If you could sum up the entire plot of the pilot episode in one word is "porn". It's literally what it revolves around from beginning to end, apart from a couple scenes here and there with a little dialogue, music and some visuals. Can't really tell what direction this whole series is heading towards, but what I can tell is if the upcoming episodes use the same exact formula as this one, it'll end up being absolutely generic, shallow with a depraved story. Even the dialogue is lacking and ain't all that intriguing, almost sounds ridiculous at times. I mean, who in their right mind screams «who has not had cum in their face» and act proud about it. Goes to show that writing surely isn't the strongest suit here.

Perhaps it was meant to be this way, perhaps what the creators intented was to showcase the harsh reality of female pop stars in the making, behind the scenes in Hollywood, being subject to corruption, malice, degeneracy and over sexualization. I don't know. But there's gotta be a better way to shine some light on to that, whilst maintaining a balance between that and telling a story at the same time. Honestly, don't wanna be too quick to judge. I'd definitely give the next episodes a chance, though it doesn't look too promising to say the least...

This hasn't been a good first impression. Usually the first episode should give you an overall first impression of what the show will be and feel like, and a strong first impression at that. But after watching this first episode I have to say that it feels all too familiar and not in a good way.

It's just Euphoria, but this time it's about fake Los Angeles industry folk that are, judging by this episode, stereotypes you've seen before in other films about the industry.

Sure, it looks pretty but that's because Sam Levinson has people who know how to shoot things with vibrent colours and on 35mm film. Nobody is particularly bad in it but but there are absolutely no standouts so far.

Not a promising start.