All Too Well: The Short Film

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In Swift’s Directorial Debut, she shows stunning scenery and a saddening tale of heartbreak

 I’ve been waiting for this one. Turn it up! The 10 minute version of “All Too Well” off of the album Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift has finally been released.

  You’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute. Didn’t Red come out like 10 years ago?” Yes, technically you would be correct but something is different. Well for one, there’s like double the amount of songs and two, Taylor actually owns the masters to this one hence the “(Taylor’s Version)” in the title. 

  So, for years “All Too Well” has been coveted as one of the, if not THE best Taylor Swift song which, in case you didn’t know, means a lot seeing as there’s 200+ more songs in Taylor’s sought-after repertoire. 

  Listeners have always had pretty good taste since obviously they’re listening to Taylor but something happened where our favorite off of the album aligned with hers. She was in a very vulnerable state that, of course, brought on an income of mind blowing songs, one of which was “All Too Well.” 

  It’s been all but confirmed by Taylor that this song and majority of the album “Red” is about the infamous movie star, Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s known for his roles in the Oscar winning movie “Brokeback Mountain” and the title character in “Donnie Darko,” amongst other projects. 

  Taylor and Jake’s relationship may have been brief, but its impact certainly hasn’t been. They originally spent time together in October 2010 and were together for 3 months. Headlines upon headlines were filled with the whirlwind romance and ‘Swifties’ were quick to search for clues when 2 years later the album Red dropped. 

  The main songs that caught the fans attention were “All Too Well” and “The Moment I Knew,” giving us intensely specific details that connected the dots to Gyllenhaal especially mentioning their jarring age-gap.

  Over the years, the obsession for “All Too Well” has only grown, so when we first heard that there was a 10 minute version of this song… let’s just say Stan Twitter was broken. 

  Just as we finally calmed ourselves for the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) Taylor drops this bomb on us: “All Too Well: The Short Film,” Which happened to feature two of the most relevant celebrities as of late, Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. 

  Now, don’t go thinking Taylor just casted those two for their Status, Taylor deliberately wanted to emphasize the two’s age gap. Sadie is 19 years old; one year younger than Taylor was when she dated Jake. Like Taylor, she has grown up in the public eye with her starring role in the mega-hit show Stranger Things and the public still sees her as a kid. 

  This compared to Dylan O’Brien’s starring roles in Teen Wolf and Maze Runner that were released years ago showcases a completely different perspective of the two in the media, just like the dynamic between Jake and Taylor. 

  We see Dylan and Sadie very close and intimate and it almost makes you twitch thinking about their age gap and their power dynamic. Even though you want to look away at their affection, the actors themselves had an insane amount of chemistry, making you want to continue watching. 

  After getting about 3 ½ minutes into the film, the music comes to a sudden stop and we watch Sadie and Dylan’s characters get into a heated argument, talking about how he didn’t pay attention to her and didn’t make her feel included around his friends. 

  Dylan’s character gets defensive, claiming, “I don’t even remember the moment you’re talking about. How can you be like attacking me about something I don’t even know,” and “I don’t think I’m making you feel that way, I think you’re making yourself feel that way.”

  At that very moment, if they’re anything like me, the fans were clenching their fists wanting to scream “Oh my god just acknowledge her feelings!” Most of us have been in the position where you’re trying to express your feelings and they respond by calling you delusional or selfish for feeling the way you do. 

  This gave us a complete view of their different stages in life where Sadie is upset about feeling left out and Dylan thinks it’s “silly” as he was catching up with friends from over 10 years ago when Sadie’s character was probably 10 years old. 

  Things get back into the swing of things “dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light” looking as happy as ever. Then all of a sudden things take a turn for the worst. 

  We don’t even have to know what they’re saying to see what’s going on… they’ve reached the Breaking Point. He is the one to call it quits on her and the look on her face is heartbreaking. We then go through the heartbreak stage. She’s lost and doesn’t know how to handle it saying, “Not weepin’ in a party bathroom, Some actress askin’ me what happened, you.”

  At this point we hear the lyrics, “ You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would’ve been fine.” Everyone behind the screen scoffs. The audacity. 

  We see her confusion and depression through the lyrics, “Time won’t fly it’s like I’m paralyzed by it, I’d like to be my old self again but I’m still trying to find it.” 

  Memories of their love fly across the screen in reminiscence. Then it cuts to Thirteen Years Gone where she’s now around the age he was when they were together. Collective gasps fill the viewer’s rooms as she says, “I was never good at telling jokes but the punchline goes, I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age.” AHHHH. 

  As of 2021, Jake Gyllenhaal is in a relationship with a woman named Jeanne Cadieu who is 25 years old currently, 16 years younger than Jake. They’ve been together for 3 years now, that means they started dating when she was 22, barely older than Taylor was at the time of their relationship. 

  This begs the question, if the problem was her age why is he dating someone that age? Especially now that he’s even older? 

  She ends the film with Dylan’s character standing outside of Sadie’s book launch wearing the red scarf she’s alluded to since the song’s initial release in 2012, bringing the film full circle and leaving all of the Swifties satisfied with Swift’s directorial debut. 

  In the film, Taylor famously known for her clues, left several easter eggs for Swifties to speculate what album will be recorded next. The overall census is either Speak Now or 1989, and I’m insanely excited if it’s true since these are my top 2 albums in her discography. 

  Let’s hope I’ll be writing to you in the near future talking about news of her next album release!