How to Watch The Idol Online: Sam Levinson and the Weeknds Scandalous New Series Hits

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Idol, one of the buzziest shows of the summer, hits Max this Sunday, June 4, at 6 p.m. PT.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

“The Idol,” one of the buzziest shows of the summer, hits Max this Sunday, June 4, at 6 p.m. PT.

The HBO series from “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson and Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye, which premiered the first two of its five episodes at the Cannes Film Festival in May, follows a shady manipulator (Tesfaye) as he preys on an unsuspecting young pop singer, played by Lily-Rose Depp.

The series begins with Depp’s Jocelyn as she’s coming off a psychotic break after the death of her mother, as her pack of bloodsucking handlers (portrayed by Jane Adams, Hank Azaria and Eli Roth) are desperate to get a new album and tour off the ground. She then meets Tesfaye’s Tedros, a modern-day cult leader, who soon reveals large ambitions for her career and his bottom line. The supporting cast includes Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Rachel Sennott and more.

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The series became one of the most talked-about titles at Cannes this year, inspiring thousands of hot takes about the show’s explicit nudity and sexually graphic content.

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The buzz surrounding the show started before it even made its way to the Croisette, though, when a report from Rolling Stone detailed on-set turmoil, including allegations of a toxic work environment, last-minute script rewrites and budgets gone wild.

At a Cannes press conference the day after the premiere, where it received a five-minute standing ovation, Levinson responded directly to the allegations and denied any behind-the-scenes drama. “When my wife read me the article,” he recalled, “I looked at her and I said, ‘I think we’re about to have the biggest show of the summer.’”

“The Idol” is, as Variety critic Peter DeBruge wrote in his review, “a skintastic, dark-side-of-showbiz fable that perpetuates the myth that pop stars are corporate puppets with no say in their own image-making, even as it allows hit-maker the Weeknd to call the shots.”

If you don’t have a Max account, you can also stream the series by signing up for a seven-day free trial on Prime Video.

Stream “The Idol” on Max starting June 4.

Max$9.99/MonthBuy Now

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