Director Taylor Swift is front and center in the behind-the-scenes video for her All Too Well: The Short Film movie. Tay dropped the BTS footage on Dec. 8, more than a year after the short film was released. The seven minute clip shows Taylor bringing her vision to life, with Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien starring in the video. Taylor takes the actors through each scene, instructing them on how she wants everything to go, but also allowing them the freedom to bring their own acting skills to the forefront.
In one clip from the second verse of the song, Taylor instructs Dylan and Sadie on how to act during one of the song’s most iconic lines: “And you were tossing me the car keys, f*** the patriarchy keychain on the ground.” She physically shows Dylan how to throw the keys, and informs Sadie how she’d like her to react before getting into the car.
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Another scene shows Taylor directing Dylan, Sadie and a group of extras at a dinner party. She’s extremely specific and intricate with how she wants the scene to go, and everybody delivers. At one point, Sadie gushes to Taylor over how amazing this project has been, and the two embrace in the sweetest hug.
By the end of filming, Taylor appears in the short film herself, as the older version of Sadie’s character, so she’s pulling double duty. Her excitement at watching the project come to life is contagious. Once filming wraps, Taylor spends time going through the footage scene by scene to make sure everything matches up with the story told in the lyrics of the song.
Taylor released All Too Well: The Short Film along with the re-release of her album Red in Nov. 2021. On the re-recorded version of the album, Taylor included the original, full ten minute version of “All Too Well,” which was cut down to be just over five minutes on the original version of Red. It became a fan-favorite song in the years since Red’s original 2012 release, and Taylor made the ten minute version something extra special for her fans by also including a short film. The movie has gone on to win various awards, including a VMA and AMA, and is nominated at the Grammys in 2023. Although Taylor has never confirmed who the song is about herself, all signs point to her ex, Jake Gyllenhaal, who she dated in 2010 and early 2011.
Of her decision to release the behind the scenes footage, Taylor explained on Instagram, “The first seeds of this short film were planted over ten years ago and I’ll never forget the behind the scenes moment of the shoot. I owe everything to Sadie Sink, Dylan O’Brien, my incredible DP Rina Yang and my producer Saul Germaine. I also want to say thank you to our wonderful background actors and crew who made this story come to life so naturally. I loved every second of it and will always remember it All. Too. Well.”