CULTURE

Is Zayn Just Making the Same Music Video Over and Over Again?

He clearly can’t get enough film noir, can he?


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ZAYN/YouTube

Zayn Malik released his latest single and music video early Thursday morning, titled “Let Me,” in which he takes on a Miami crime boss played by Scarface‘s own Steven Bauer and fights for the girl of his dreams, played by Instagram-famous model Sofia Jamora. In the video for “Let Me,” Zayn embraces every South Florida stereotype that Drake just upturned in his “God’s Plan” video, rolls up to the club in a taxi cab, and does his best Miami Vice impersonation, but, wait, where have we seen almost this exact same video before?

Zayn’s most recent attempt at trying to give us some film noir realness set to a plodding pop single feels like it basically tells the same story from his previous single, “Dusk Till Dawn,” which featured Sia on the track and Jemima Kirke in the music video, as well as a few other key elements and scenes that feel reminiscent of the last song he released in September.

The Mysterious Briefcase

The narrative in “Let Me” would appear to heavily feature some sort of important briefcase delivery from Zayn to the Miami crime boss, as does the narrative in “Dusk Till Dawn.” What’s inside of the briefcase doesn’t really matter—it could be filled with dollars, gold, weapons, who knows. It’s all about what the briefcase represents, which is still unclear in both of Zayn’s videos, but the inclusion of the case is clearly a nod to the unexplained briefcase from Pulp Fiction and the film noir MacGuffin (an item intended to carry the plot somewhere).

*ZAYN/Dusk Till Dawn*

*[ZAYN/Let Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-dv_DcDD_A)*

The Close Call

In “Let Me,” Zayn switches out that mysterious briefcase, but only after being threatened by a couple baddies with guns. In “Dusk Till Dawn,” it’s an interrogation scene with the police that almost gives him away. In both, we’re just waiting for Zayn to get through the scene so that he can get back to singing about fighting for his girl, or whatever.

*ZAYN/Let Me*

*ZAYN/Dusk Till Dawn*

The Standoff

Zayn saves the day in “Dusk Till Dawn” with an explosive standoff between himself, Jemima Kirke, a couple of bad guys, and the police. In “Let Me,” it’s Sofia Jamora who saves herself from death after Zayn throws a few punches at the crime boss’s minions. So, at least there’s some feminist growth in his video oeuvre.

*ZAYN/Dusk Till Dawn*

*ZAYN/Let Me*

The Getaway Vehicle

“Let Me” actually features a getaway boat, but it serves the same purpose as the car at the end of “Dusk Till Dawn,” which is to get away from the bad guys and cruise off into the sunset together. Also, there’s some promising “to be continued” text at the end of “Let Me,” so it looks like we’ll be getting at least one more cinematic installment birthed from Zayn’s film noir repertoire before any official news of an album is announced, or at least a new genre of music video.

*ZAYN/Dusk Till Dawn*

*ZAYN/Let Me*

Related: Newly Single Zayn Malik Just Added Two Neck Tattoos To His Collection