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Peyton Burton

ENG 2012

Daniel Raschke

30 October 2021

More than an Afterthought:

A New Criticism Analysis of The Weeknd’s After Hours Short Film

In 2020, The Weeknd released a concept album entitled After Hours, which told a

cohesive narrative about the singer’s struggles with fame, addiction, and heartbreak. Along with

the music, After Hours was promoted through a series of music videos and live performances

that furthered the narrative, reinforcing the themes of the album. The multimedia project bred the

storyline of The Red Suit Character, a fictionalized version of The Weeknd whose bad decisions

cause dark forces to lead him through a gruesome and terrifying journey. Before the release of

the After Hours album, The Weeknd posted a short film with the same name. In it, the artist uses

an impressive command of cinematic language to both establish the baseline for The Red Suit

Character’s journey and also promote the music he was going to release. The After Hours short

film is an impressive piece of media that contributes to the world created by The Weeknd while

also communicating something deeper about the state of the singer behind the character. Indeed,

the short film implements several rhetorical devices that make biting commentary about the

effect of Hollywood culture on celebrities and the internal struggles that The Weeknd faced as a

result.

Before analyzing the short film, it is important to note the context preceding its release.

The Weeknd experienced very public breakups with two high profile partners- Bella Hadid and

Selena Gomez. With accusations of infidelity, a general consensus was formed in the media that

The Weeknd was at fault for the end of the respective relationships. Subsequently, The Weeknd
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vanished from the public eye before abruptly releasing a short EP, My Dear Melancholy, a few

years later. The Weeknd remained out of the public eye for another year, never conducting any of

the typical press activities to promote his newly released music. In the fall of 2019, “Blinding

Lights” and “Heartless” were released with little marketing. After years out of the public eye,

The Weeknd appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform the latter single, clad in a red suit and

peculiar bandages across his bloody nose. Immediately, this new era of The Weeknd’s music

appeared more intentional than any of his previous projects. After announcing a release date for

After Hours, The Weeknd posted the short film, which begins at the conclusion of his Jimmy

Kimmel performance.

The After Hours short film is rich with rhetorical devices. Among the most prevalent

rhetorical devices used is symbolism. Throughout the short film, The Weeknd uses camera

movements and objects to symbolize the perils of fame. For instance, the film opens by pulling

out from inside of his eye, revealing his bandaged face ("After Hours" 0:11). The audience

applauds as the red suit character faces them and smiles, looking thoroughly happy despite being

marked by a grotesque facial injury ("After Hours" 0:15). Here, symbolism is employed through

the badges on the character’s face, representing the physical toll that fame has on a famous

performer. Often, the struggles of fame are not physically evident, instead impacting the mental

health of celebrities. In portraying the character with bandages on his face, The Weeknd makes

these internal struggles physically evident. Furthermore, the battered face and bloody gauze are a

shocking contrast with the expectation people have of celebrities, who are always clean and

ready to be photographed. The symbolism of the character’s injuries speaks to the unrealistic

expectation the media has of celebrities to maintain this camera-ready look, instead symbolizing

pain in an unmistakably obvious manner. Even so, the apparent injuries are not acknowledged by
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anyone in the audience. Instead, they applaud for the performance, never questioning his

unhealthy appearance. This may symbolize a lack of support The Weeknd feels exists, as there

may be few around him worried about his problems. As the camera shot moves from inside of

his eye to reveal his face, the viewer may interpret this as being shown the world through his

perspective. The camera movement communicates to viewers that we are witnessing reality

through the eyes of our evidently unwell character.

Additionally, there are several allusions in the short film that contribute to the overall

meaning. In an interview with Variety, The Weeknd spoke about the influence of films from the

twentieth century with common noir themes. He says, “There’s the ‘Chinatown’ reference with

the broken nose…and of course ‘After Hours,’ Martin Scorsese’s [1985] film, is the obvious

inspiration, with all this madness taking place in one night.” (Aswad). The movies alluded to in

the short film have similarly dark themes of morally questionable protagonists experiencing a

very bad night. These allusions work to strengthen the narrative of the red suit character. As the

audience connects the dots between the short film and other pieces of cinema, viewers form a

more nuanced understanding of the character based on previous knowledge of similar characters

from other media. As a result, the allusions function to strengthen the themes of loneliness and

trouble with the dark character of ill fate. New critics would note how the allusions situates the

short film into a larger category of media expressing similar messages. This furthers the notion

that art builds upon existing art. By referencing older works, The Weeknd prompts the audience

to make connections with other media. This engagement sets up an additional rhetorical

technique employed in the short film, dependent on the increased attention paid by the audience.

Foreshadowing is used in the After Hours short film, referencing the continuation of the

red suit character beyond the short film. The short film was released ahead of the actual album,
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acting partly as an advertising technique to intrigue fans about the content of The Weeknd’s latest

project. The extensive effort evident in the short film signified something grander about the

album. The anticipation was heightened by the context of his absence from the public eye for

years before this era in his career. Various songs can be heard faintly in the background times

throughout the short film, foreshadowing the content of his album. For example, the chorus of

his song “Too Late” can be heard when he walks out of the performance ("After Hours" 1:11).

Later, the saxophone solo of his song “In Your Eyes” can be found as he walks past a street

performer in the subway ("After Hours" 2:24). The foreshadowing of his music in the short film

works to increase interest in his upcoming project. It further challenges the audience to speculate

how the snippets of various songs fit together on the album. Considering the mysterious release

of the somber My Dear Melancholy two years earlier, many were curious about what sound The

Weeknd would deliver on After Hours. The foreshadowing develops this anticipation and

communicates the deliberative effort put into the short film. Consequently, the increased

audience attention developed through teasing new music will cause other details in the short film

to be noticed. Therefore, The Weeknd makes viewers more receptive to the messages he wants to

communicate.

Moreover, the use of imagery in the short film communicates deeper messages about The

Weeknd’s perspective. As noted earlier, the camera movements utilized in the video convey an

internal point of view. Consequently, imagery within the film may be interpreted as The

Weeknd’s take on his own experiences. The use of the color red is an example of imagery that

achieves this. The Weeknd is seen performing in a flamboyant, red suit jacket. As he exits the

set, he walks underneath the glow of red exit signs, exemplifying the color of his clothes ("After

Hours" 0:31). Here, the imagery of red conveys a deeper state of mind to the audience. Red is
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known for representing “passion, warmth, and sexuality, but it is also known as a color that

stands for danger, violence, and aggression.” (“Color Psychology”). Indeed, this fits consistently

with the larger theme of After Hours, as The Weeknd is reeling from the loss of relationships and

conflicts with love interests. This struggle is exacerbated by his more negative tendencies, posing

himself as a danger to healthy relationships. Thus, the passion and warmth associated with

relationships is contrasted with the danger that The Weeknd poses to them, illustrated by the

performative suit and harsh glare of the lights. As a result, red imagery associated with the red

suit character warns the audience of the danger he presents. This danger further comments on the

internal perspective of The Weeknd. By presenting himself in this light, The Weeknd shows a bit

of self-reflection, acknowledging that he is perceived negatively.

Another instance of imagery is the use of empty space. As The Weeknd exits his

performance, he walks backstage before spilling into an empty alleyway and eventually into the

subway ("After Hours" 1:12). Normally, backstages are bustling places full of moving people

completing a variety of tasks. This is also true of subway stations, which are notoriously

crowded places. Therefore, it is odd that The Weeknd finds himself alone in these usually

populated settings. This imagery of emptiness represents the character’s state of mind. The

Weeknd, offering the audience a glimpse into his point of view, demonstrates that he finds

himself alone, even in the most public of places. This could mean that there is no one to support

him through his struggles, as there is no one “really there”.

Furthermore, the use of metaphors in the After Hours short film deepen the meaning and

help The Weeknd make an interesting point about Hollywood’s influence on him. One metaphor

present in the film is red suit character’s forced smile that gradually turns into a frown. The

Weeknd’s full faced smile shines in the light as he faces a cheering crowd after a performance
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("After Hours" 0:12). This smile lasts as he exits the stage and walks onto the street. Even

minutes later, as he walks through the subway, we see him attempting to keep the same smile,

while the rest of his face is painted with pain ("After Hours" 3:03). The character’s attempt to

keep his smile for as long as possible is a metaphor for the taxes of show business. Indeed, the

mantra that “the show must go on” is forced on many performers, who must present an ingenuine

version of themselves in order to meet modern expectations of entertainment. His forced smile,

long after anyone is around, is an exaggeration meant to emphasize how difficult it is to meet this

expectation. Further, once the character is no longer able to keep up his smile, he walks under an

ominous red light. Putting on an extravagant pair of sunglasses, he looks into it ("After Hours"

3:41). Subsequently, we see him dragged across the ground by unseen forces. The red suit

character slides through the subway, writhing in every direction and gripping for something to

hold onto ("After Hours" 3:47). This sequence metaphorically portrays The Weeknd falling back

into bad habits. In embracing the red light, he is pulled back into his more dangerous tendencies

by the internal forces that he cannot see. Despite fighting to hold onto his composure, he is

dragged into a darker place and is unable to resist, now seeing the world through these tainted

sunglasses.

At the film's conclusion, we see a couple join the red suit character in an elevator ("After

Hours" 4:21). As the doors close, we hear the disturbing sounds of the couple being attacked as

the screen flashes into its title card in imposing red font. With this conclusion, The Weeknd

shows that he is unable to turn away from his vices and mistakes of the past, exacerbated by the

taxing pressures of his career. Attacking the couple shows that he is unable to support

relationships and lift his partners up, even when in an elevator. Overall, the metaphors within the
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film strengthen the message being conveyed, clueing the audience in on The Weeknd’s

perspective on fame.

In the end, After Hours is a creative critique of Hollywood and innovative self reflection

by The Weeknd. The journey of the red suit character speaks to larger trends in the entertainment

industry that The Weeknd takes issue with. Through a variety of rhetorical strategies, The

Weeknd makes his point while also foreshadowing his upcoming music, developing fan interest.

With a new criticism lens in mind, the audience can see how numerous techniques contribute to a

larger narrative about the perils of Hollywood and infer a cycle of pressures that lead to self

destruction.
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Works Cited

“After Hours (Short Film).” YouTube, uploaded by The Weeknd, 4 March 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq9AgxHvGjw

Aswad, Jem. “The Weeknd Goes Track-by-Track (Almost) on ‘After Hours’.” Variety, 8 April
2020,https://variety.com/2020/music/news/the-weeknd-after-hours-track-by-track-1234574136/

“Red Color Psychology, Symbolism and Meaning.” Color Psychology,

https://www.colorpsychology.org/red/ Accessed 30 October 2022.