Swift’s genius as an artist and director shines throughout every one of those 15 minutes, starting with the casting. As he turns away with regret, he gives an answer to the lyric playing in the background, “Just between us, do you remember it all too well?” In this reality she becomes an author, celebrating her novel “All Too Well” as her ex-lover looks on from outside of the store, wearing her red scarf.
The film ends with Swift, playing herself, thirteen years later. This acute, initial pain ebbs into a dull, ever-present ache for both young Swift and her ex-lover, as a montage of effervescent and painful memories plays. This mercuriality and instability comes to light as the lover lousily breaks up with young Swift in “The Breaking Point.” The ending of the relationship results in young Swift’s feelings of loneliness, brokenness and insecurity conveyed in “The Reeling,” as she staggers back from the sloppy, shoddy and sudden break up. However, the anger and hurt of young Swift contrasts with “Are You Real?” as the characters dance in refrigerator light and spend intimate time together, showing the ups and downs of a relationship.
As the film continues and the relationship progresses-that initial starry-eyed happiness quickly fades in “The First Crack in the Glass,” as O’Brien’s character begins to neglect young Swift, treating her like a burden and gaslighting her, giving a glimpse of the pain to come. With happiness and romantic excitement pouring through young Swift’s visit to her lover’s home-in which she leaves her scarf-and their trips upstate, audiences feel an air of positivity and trusting love. Starring Dylan O’Brien as the love interest and Sadie Sink as young Swift, “All Too Well: the Short Film” takes the audience through a relationship in seven chapters: “An Upstate Escape,” “The First Crack in the Glass,” “Are You Real?”, “The Breaking Point,” “The Reeling,” “The Remembering” and “Thirteen Years Gone.” The film begins with the quote, “Love is so short, forgetting is so long,” and delves into the honeymoon phase of the relationship. “All Too Well,” a fan favorite from the original “Red,” was supposedly written about Swift’s breakup with ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, who was 29 years old when he dated 20 year old Swift in late 2010 Swift has not concretely confirmed this. Most recently, Swift released a 15-minute short film for her extended version of “All Too Well” alongside her new album, “Red (Taylor’s Version)”. Her first solo directorial piece was her 2020 music video “The Man,” which was later followed by music videos for “cardigan” and “willow,” along with the film “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.” Lately, Swift has even started directing films of her own. She has also starred in several documentaries, including “Miss Americana,” where she opened up about her personal struggles over the years, ranging from her reaction to media scrutiny to her mother’s cancer diagnosis. Alongside all her incredible music videos and stadium tour films, Swift has had roles in “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” “Valentine’s Day,” “Cats” and “The Giver”.
While Swift is renowned for her music, her presence in the film industry has been growing in the past few years. She even has a place in the world of academia, with her appearance on the 2021 AP United States Government and Politics exam (and honestly, I can only remember the year the Berlin Wall fell because it was the same year Taylor Swift was born). Even Billy Joel has dubbed her “the Beatles of her generation”-her influence permeates throughout almost every music genre and across social media. Without a doubt, Taylor Swift is the defining artist of the era.