Making a short film based on one of her most heart-wrenching songs was sure to cause some tears, especially with all the pre-existing fan hype, and the results certainly didn’t disappoint.
The film re-tells the story of the titular song, with Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, Fear Street) starring as Her, a stand-in for a younger Taylor Swift. Acting opposite Her is Him, played by Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf, Maze Runner), who is (almost certainly) a stand-in for Jake Gyllenhal, who was dating Taylor Swift at the time that the song focuses on. All of this is directed by Taylor Swift, who is consistently showing her versatility when it comes to her artistic output.
Fans were struck by the acting talent on display from these two leads, both of whom are playing against type, pushing away from the much more light-hearted roles we are far more used to seeing them in. There was even some pretty intense improv going on:
This Swiftie was so excited by the film that they even made a fancam for the film shortly after its release:
There was also some speculation over how Niall Horan (formerly of One Direction) would deal with the short film given his self-professed love of the song. We’ve got to imagine there were lots of tissues involved!
The re-release of Red is enormously successful, dominating Spotify’s streams and reportedly being the biggest album debut from a female artist on the platform, with over 90 million streams. Ironically she takes the record from herself, as it was previously held by folklore, which had over 80 million streams in its debut. As Taylor Swift continues to re-release her older music, we can be sure she’ll be playing with our emotions again soon!