The last time I wrote about Zayn's acting, he was skulking around the Dusk Til Dawn music video with his Resting Bored Face and I assumed that he wasn't trying to be an actor outside of yawn-inducing interludes wedged between bad lip-syncing. Well, last November he admitted to Billboard that he does in fact want to take acting seriously and so much that he wants to do "art movies."
Zayn's new video for his latest single Let Me is no Phantom Thread and Zayn’s future as the next Daniel Day-Lewis is looking BLEAK. The music video’s storyline is a sh-tty knockoff of 2 Fast 2 Furious and it's even worse than Dusk Til Dawn which was also really f-cking bad.
Like Dusk Til Dawn, the music video pays homage to 90s action movies and has Zayn playing a hero caught in the middle of shady business by villainous drug lords. Teen Vogue tells me that Zayn’s character’s name is Roko and his love interest (played by model Sofia Jamora) is named Jynx. Their flirtation is responsible for a line in the video that made me physically recoil in transferred humiliation. Shady drug lord (played by Steven Bauer who was in Scarface in case you forgot that straight dudes LOVE Scarface) asks Roko if he likes what he sees, referring to Jynx, the glorified eye candy. Zayn responds with, “What’s not to like?” in a way that makes me question if Zayn has ever spoken words to another human being before.
The most disappointing part of this embarrassing music video is that the song isn't terrible. The first time I heard Let Me was while watching Zayn attempt to be Jason Statham and so I didn’t figure out that the song wasn’t terrible until I listened to it again, away from the distraction of all the awfulness. Let Me is a really good Zayn song because it focuses on Zayn’s strength: sex. Zayn’s breakout solo single Pillow Talk was all about sex. None of Zayn’s pop peers do sexy R&B like he does. Shawn Mendes is *just* starting to deliver grown and sexy music. Harry Styles is going more for the gender fluid rock star vibe and Niall Horan is about as sexy as a stuffed teddy bear. So, the good news is that Zayn should be releasing sexy songs with sexy music videos but the bad news is that this is what Zayn thinks is sexy. There’s a fight scene near the end of Let Me that is SO laughable, I don’t understand how this video was directed by Jose Padilha, EP of Narcos.
The best part of Let Me is a love scene between Zayn and Sofia Jamora and a good reminder that even though Zayn can’t act for sh-t, he’s still got that something – that intangible captivating appeal. He’s still extremely good looking so there’s that.
This is Zayn’s first drop since his breakup with Gigi Hadid and since he wiped his social media accounts in preparation for the release of his sophomore album.I was almost hoping for a sultry breakup track along with broody visuals instead of an action-packed mess that makes Scott Eastwood look talented.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 1 Zayn said that he won’t reveal who any of the tracks on his upcoming album are about but we all know they will probably be about Gigi. He also opened up about gaining confidence and overcoming his anxiety. That’s all great. I’m rooting for Zayn. I just think he needs to let go of these awkward mini-movie music videos.
Watch Let Me below for a surprise twist ending that— if you make it that far— I promise will make you laugh out loud or cringe uncontrollably. Either one. Also… “to be continued”, does that mean there’s hope for him and Gigi?
