The Weeknd Unveils Striking ‘Red Terror’ Music Video After Showing ‘Open Hearts’ on Kimmel

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The Weeknd’s cinematic “Red Terror” visual picks up where “Open Hearts” leaves off.

The Weeknd, “Red Terror”

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The Weeknd‘s “Red Terror” video sets a disturbing stop-motion scene for the track from Hurry Up Tomorrow, Abel Tesfaye’s new album and the ending to the trilogy that began with Dawn FM and After Hours.

A young being experiences an unsettling transformation in what looks like an Upside Down-esque alternate dimension in “Red Terror.”

The music video is a visual interpretation of lyrics that seemingly have Abel addressing a child, from the perspective of a parent, with an allegorical title referencing the Ethiopian Red Terror, a period of violet political repression that resulted in the deaths of thousands in the late ’70s. Abel was born in Canada and raised by his mother and grandmother; his parents had emigrated from Ethiopia in the ’80s.

The work’s end credit screen displays that “Red Terror” is a film by Eddie Alcazar, known most recently (outside of his new work with Abel) for the science fiction thriller Divinity, which was co-produced with Steven Soderbergh and debuted at Sundance in 2023.

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In fact, Alcazar also helmed The Weeknd’s dark “Open Hearts” performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired ahead of the weekend. “Open Hearts” got more than the typical late-night stage treatment — its last two minutes shifted to the showing of a cinematic production.

The latter half of “Open Hearts” precedes what’s to come in “Red Terror,’ and though they’re not labeled as a part one and two, they arguably should be watched together.

Hurry Up Tomorrow features 22 tracks, including previously-released singles like the Playboi Carti-assisted “Timeless,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “São Paulo” with Anitta.

Watch The Weeknd’s “Open Hearts” (as shown on Kimmel) and “Red Terror” videos below.

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