Taylor Swift has never been a villain, but she’ll proudly be the anti-hero. Hours after the release of her Midnights album on Oct. 21 — and the surprise “3 a.m. edition” featuring seven bonus tracks — the 11-time Grammy winner released the first music video for her Midnights era. Swift wrote and directed the video for lead single “Anti-Hero,” which is making Swifties feel all the feels.
The new video takes Swift’s fears and insecurities that she waxes poetic about and brings them to life within the same ’70s-style house seen in the Midnights promo photos. The video begins with Swift being haunted by ghosts from her past (donning fabulous sunglasses) before coming face-to-face with her inner saboteur. She receives some valuable lessons from her self-sabotaging persona, before realizing that the expectations of herself are too much.
The video — shot by the same cinematographer who shot Swift’s “All Too Well” short film (Rina Yang) — culminates by telling the story of Swift’s death with a funeral scene. In it, her future grown sons (played Mike Birbiglia and John Early) and daughter-in-law (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) get into an all-out brawl over the singer’s unexpected will. Young Taylor even peeks out of her coffin in a perfectly memeable moment, not able to resist seeing the mayhem play out.
On Twitter, Swift wrote, “Watch my nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts play out in real time with some help from the excellent @birbigs, @bejohnce, and @meellisday who fabulously portray… get ready for it… my grown sons and daughter in law?”
Swifties were quick to craft hilarious memes and emotional tweets after the video’s premiere, poking fun at Swift’s glitter vomit and “Vote For Me For Everything” sticker, a sentiment that Swifties happily agreed to.
As usual, Swifties were also quick to uncover every Easter egg they could find, from the hidden portrait of Swift’s great-grandmother Marjorie to the fact that her adult self has 13 kids. Well, she has 11 cats and two human children, but it still adds up to her lucky number.
Fans also had immense praise for the scene where frightened Swift weighs herself on a scale only to receive saboteur Swift’s disapproval, finding it the most relatable yet devastating part in the clip.
What Twitter had the most fun with was the funeral scene, where younger Taylor watches from her coffin as her future children fight about being left out of the will.
Some Swifties also used the final scene of Taylor’s personalities coming together to celebrate how she wrote and directed the video, proving she needs nobody to do what she does best.
Contrary to the song’s lyrics, it’s actually fun rooting for the anti-hero.
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