If there is anyone who should be worried for their safety right now, it is Jake Gyllenhaal.
Taylor Swift released “Red (Taylor’s Version)” Nov. 12. This is the second re-release of her old albums and part of her path to reclaim her music since Big Machine Records maintained ownership of her masters. The release of this album, however, brings back a love for Swift’s emotional ballad, “All Too Well,” with a ten-minute version.
Along with the album, Swift released a short film to accompany the song. The film stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. Swift wrote and directed the video alongside cinematographer Rina Yang.
The film follows the lyrics and shares a story of a couple and their breakup.
And of course, like most songs Swift has released, fans were quick to uncover the meaning. “All Too Well” has been known for a while to be about Swift’s relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, where they dated for a few months in late 2010. The music video also seems to confirm this theory.
The most noticeable similarity is the disturbing age difference between Sink’s character and O’Brien’s. The actors are 11 years apart, which is similar to the age gap of Swift, who was 20, and Jake, who was 29, at the time of their relationship. This large age gap adds to the story showing the imbalance of power in Swift and Gyllenhall’s relationship. Many fans have called out Gyllenhaal again for breaking the singer’s heart.
The new lyrics in the ten-minute version also touch on this aspect and call out the predatory nature of the relationship. Some lines seem to take a stab at a few of Gyllenhaal’s other relationships in which his partner was much younger than himself.
“And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punch line goes / ‘I’ll get older, but your lovers stay my age.’”
The film’s story is divided into chapters, and then at the end, the female lead, 13 years later (of course), played by Swift, releases a book titled “All Too Well.” As she is at a book-reading, the scene references Swift initially releasing the song and the connection her and her fans have to the heartbreaking lyrics.
The film also shows off the notorious scarf mentioned in the song, as the viewer sees Sink’s character wearing it at the beginning and leaving it at her boyfriend’s sister’s house. At the end of the film, years later, the man is seen wearing the same scarf. This reference is clever, and thrilling for fans who have sung along about the scarf since the original release.
The most compelling part of the film is the break from the song where both characters are fighting after a dinner with O’brien’s character’s friends. The girlfriend references how the boyfriend “dropped her hand” at the table and ignored her throughout the meal. The boyfriend refutes with a gaslighting tone that should make any woman watching roll her eyes.
This scene, and the film as a whole, show such a raw relationship. The scene where the girl is lying in her bed sobbing post-breakup tells just how torn Swift must have felt. Swift has an ability to use her lyrics to connect to the listener, and we see her do the same with her film.
“All Too Well” remains one of Taylor Swift’s most powerful songs, and the short film only reminds listeners why it has stayed so loved. Whether one can empathize with the lyrics or the scenes in the film, the song can make anyone feel how Swift must have felt when writing, and it will continue to be one of her best songs.
Edited by Elise Mulligan | emulligan@themaneater.com