Sam Levinson’s The Idol was slated as HBO’s next Euphoria when details of the forthcoming series were first released earlier this year. But if early reviews are anything to go by, it’s taken a very different path.
The series, which follows the story of a popstar (played by Lily-Rose Depp) as she attempts to work her way up from the scraps of the music industry, sees her befriend nightclub owner Tedros (played by The Weeknd), who, unbeknownst to her, is also the founder of a local extremist cult.
Originally directed by Amy Seimetz (Sun Don't Shine, She Dies Tomorrow) before her unexpected departure (with the series near-on complete) back in April 2022, The Idol was given a complete overhaul by the incoming Levinson (below), with a slew of reshoots and rewrites, and a reported $75 million down the drain.
The Idol — which is described by HBO as the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood” — was expected to be even darker and bawdier take on Euphoria (a series also directed by Levinson), which itself is a sorrowful story of a recovering teenage drug addict.
Despite Euphoria's harrowing contents, it's been a major success with Gen Z since its debut in 2019, with season two now officially HBO's second highest-watched series over the past 18 years, only behind Game of Thrones.
However, in stark contrast, The Idol looks to have gone a step too far, with Rolling Stone's review describing the series as more like "twisted torture porn".
Said review, which was published on March 1, 2023, also describes the series as having “gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails,” with another source admitting that it "was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have”.
TikTok users have also had their say on the matter, with many concerned over how Levinson's arrival changed what was originally written as a show to empower women, changed into a series about "hyper sexual torture."
Following Rolling Stone's review, The Weeknd took to Twitter to ask Rolling Stone whether he’d upset them, along with an unseen clip from the series, to which the publication's Editor-in-Chief, Noah Shachtman, replied the below.
Levinson's new series was originally due to air back in November 2021 under the guise of Seimetz, before it was pushed to late 2022 following her departure. Now a release date for The Idol goes as far as "later this year," which too should be taken with a pinch of salt.
