Into The Music
Dua Lipa is expanding her portfolio in ways that actually feel earned. Pitchfork reported this week that the pop star is set to appear in A24’s upcoming comedy film Peaked, acting alongside Connor Storrie in what sounds like a sharp, contemporary project from a studio that rarely makes boring choices.
The casting makes a certain kind of sense. Lipa has never been a passive presence. Her public persona has always involved a level of control and self-awareness that translates more naturally to acting than most musicians ever manage. She doesn’t appear to be coasting on novelty here, either. A24 has been consistent enough over the years that landing a role in one of their productions means something, and pairing with an emerging talent like Storrie suggests the film isn’t simply deploying her as a recognizable face in the background.
Lipa’s trajectory has been one of the more interesting case studies in modern pop. She launched into the mainstream with a sound that was cleaner and more disciplined than the era deserved. Future Nostalgia then made a genuine argument that disco-adjacent pop could be substantive, not just throwback. The Radical Optimism tour cemented her as a performer who could hold an arena without leaning on gimmickry. Film feels like the next logical pressure test.
Whether Peaked turns out to be something worth sitting with or just a curiosity on her resume is genuinely hard to predict at this stage. A24 comedies tend to reward patience. The studio’s approach to the genre, when they bother with it, usually involves trusting awkwardness over formula. If the script has the kind of dry intelligence that A24 projects carry at their best, Lipa’s specific brand of composed self-presentation could land unusually well.
The music side of things isn’t going anywhere. Between the ongoing global reach of Radical Optimism and whatever she’s inevitably building toward next, this film is a side pursuit rather than a pivot. But it’s the kind of side pursuit that either confirms something or reveals a gap. Either way, it’s worth watching.
No release date for Peaked has been announced. Details beyond casting remain sparse, which is A24 operating as usual.
A24 knows how to cast. This will be interesting.
“In ways that actually feel earned” , that phrase stopped me. I think we’re harder on pop artists crossing into film because we’ve been burned so many times by vanity projects. But Dua has always had this particular quality of committing fully to whatever she’s doing. Whether that translates to comedy I genuinely don’t know, but I trust the instinct more than I expected to.