The Weeknd / Wicked Games

by: Bianca Ozeri

The Weeknd’s new video for “Wicked Games” is everything Abel Tesfaye’s voice bespeaks: a raw musing on the ache of sex and relationship. Like his lyrics, the premise of the video is simple, yet utterly poignant. There is in fact, no real plot, a testament to the nearly incommunicable feelings of human desire, of which The Weeknd so frequently sings. Instead, the camera moves gently, at an almost glacial pace, around Tesfaye, who is shot in ashen grays and stark black. The palette—not to mention the closeups of Tesfaye’s evocative countenance—fiercely accentuates the desperation of a voice that lingers long after the song ends.

The 22 year-old’s two and a half minute solo appearance is sandwiched by a gyrating beauty wearing nothing but an open blazer and a bouffant coif. Seeing as the woman is Caucasian, the video is also an important meditation on interracial relationship. “Wicked Games” is yet another pristine example of The Weeknd’s forte.