Light up the Void  

“Big Sleep”: The Explosive Encounter Between The Weeknd and Gaspar Noé

With “Big Sleep,” The Weeknd entrusts his visual universe to Gaspar Noé. The result: a hypnotic, aggressive, almost experimental music video. We follow an old man wandering through an empty city, soon overwhelmed by visions of giant heads—those of the singer and Giorgio Moroder—floating in the sky like pop specters.

Noé imposes his signature style: strobe lighting, saturated neon, visual vertigo. More than a music video, it’s an experience, a mental journey between dream, memory, and the end of an era. For The Weeknd, reduced to a ghostly apparition, it’s also a symbolic gesture: turning a page, fading into a darker, more introspective world.

A visual shock that divides opinion, but leaves a lasting impression.

A video that begins like a warning

From the very first seconds, the tone is set: a black screen, followed by a warning for photosensitive viewers. Fans of the singer quickly understand that this is not the traditional music video. Gaspar Noé plunges the viewer into a stroboscopic flow where saturated colors, aggressive neon lights, and dizzying movements create an almost physical experience.

Gaspar Noé establishes his signature style

Stroboscopic effects, visual distortions, oppressive slowness: Noé's language is everywhere. The director takes what makes his films true sensory experiences—from the chaos of  Enter the Void to the collective trance of  Climax—and transposes it into a short but remarkably intense format.

Far from the polished conventions of the pop video, Noé presents a brutal, almost introspective universe, where the image becomes a shock rather than a backdrop.

The Weeknd, the End of a Mask

Beyond its aesthetics, Big Sleep marks a pivotal moment for The Weeknd, who has been exploring themes of transformation, loss, and rebirth for several years. Here, the singer appears physically only as a spectral face, as if he were voluntarily effacing himself to make way for the symbol.

We sense a farewell to a persona, perhaps even to a period in his career—a risky move, but consistent with his narrative ambition.

A work that divides, but leaves no one indifferent

The video fascinates as much as it disturbs. Some praise its rare audacity in the world of mainstream music videos, while others reject the visual violence and the unease it evokes. But this is precisely where the power of the Noé/Weeknd collaboration lies: in its ability to provoke, to shake things up, to break with the polished aesthetic that dominates high-profile music releases.