Taylor Swift has recently reclaimed her throne at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” the longest song ever to reach the No. 1 spot.

This song’s success may be in part due to the release of a short film dedicated to the events of the lyrics. “All Too Well: The Short Film” was released Nov. 12 and has nearly 50 million views on YouTube.

The American singer-songwriter wrote, directed and stars in the video, alongside “Stranger Things” actress Sadie Sink and “The Maze Runner” actor Dylan O’Brien. Sink plays “Her,” O’Brien “Him” and Swift “Her, later on.”

The short film opens with a quote from Pablo Neruda that reads, “Love is so short, forgetting is so long,” which perfectly describes the relationship portrayed through the song’s lyrics.

It is a widely held belief among fans that “All Too Well” was written by Swift about her three-month relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, which occurred in late 2010. The recurring mention of her scarf allowed fans to connect the dots to paparazzi photos of the couple in which she was wearing one.

Swift never reveals who the subjects of her songs are, but Swifties, a nickname for her fans, are quite the investigators.

The noticeable age gap between Sink and O’Brien serves as a reminder of the one between Swift and Gyllenhaal, fans speculate.

No matter who this ballad is actually written about, the song and the short film alike express how devastating love can be.

Swift breaks up the short film with titles pertaining to sections of the song, the first of which is “An Upstate Escape.” Throughout this sequence, there is hand holding, ear-to-ear smiles and kissing; everything seems just right.

Two and a half minutes in, the next section is titled “The First Crack in the Glass.” The first scene is at a dinner party that the couple and a small group of friends attend. Sink sports Swift’s signature red lipstick in the scene and is clearly not enjoying the get-together nearly as much as everyone else.

The song is put on hold when a post-dinner cleanup between the couple begins, stirring turmoil. O’Brien makes the viewer despise his character with his gaslighting in this scene.

Sink beautifully and realistically portrays the feeling of being manipulated by your significant other.

The third scene title, “Are You Real?,” showcases many happy moments of the relationship, including a visual for the lyric, “We’re dancin’ ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light.” This sequence recalls all of the intimate moments that Swift would remember all too well.

This happiness is short-lived, however, and “The Breaking Point” begins — the breakup. Sink’s acting allows her character’s pain to be felt through the screen by viewers, as many can relate to this kind of pain.

The short film itself lives up to its opening quote: the grief and remembrance of what once was always seems to last longer than the love itself. Flashbacks of memories come back to O’Brien’s character in the next title of the sequence, “The Remembering.”

The final sequence, “Thirteen Years Gone,” shows a grown-up version of Sink’s character played by Swift, who poetically turned this hurtful relationship into something productive: a book.

Overall, Swift’s short film for “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” perfectly encapsulates all of the good and bad that can be experienced within a romantic relationship.

LIA EBERLEIN
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