Released as the fifth track from the Weeknd's debut extended play My Dear Melancholy (2018), it was written by the Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), Gesaffelstein (Mike Lévy), Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk, and Cirkut, with the latter three producing the track.
Jordan Bassett of NME referred to the melody of the track as "sliding into in a squealing cacophony of electronic beats, howling synths and sound effects that evoke a ray gun blasting into your heart".
[1] While ranking every song on My Dear Melancholy, Michael Saponara of Billboard ranks the song at fourth place; "The second collaboration with Gesaffelstein is reminiscent of classic Abel," says Saponara, "'Hurt You' sees The Weeknd exude his wide-ranging singing abilities here more than any other track on the EP".
[2] Craig Jenkins of Vulture described that the track, in particular the lyric "between your legs, not between your heart", as "feel[ing] like eavesdropping on a gross couples’ squabble teetering between high drama and base chauvinism".
[3] Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork stated that "Homem-Cristo and fellow Frenchman Gesaffelstein draw from the same well that produced Starboy’s title track and 'I Feel It Coming,' but fail to match the radiance of either".