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On Friday, Taylor Swift dropped All Too Well: The Short Film. The heartbreaking, beautifully shot video — which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien as Him and Her, respectively — explores the story behind the fan-favorite, forever-enshrined song "All Too Well."
The video shows a young woman navigating a tumultuous relationship with an older man, culminating in a heart-wrenching breakup and, ultimately, a fresh start.
Watching this film, I've sung, cried, gasped, and yelled, "Give everyone involved an Oscar." It truly is an amazing work of art. And what makes it so great is the way Taylor included small details, references, and Easter eggs throughout. Here are some of the best:
1. The Mercedes in the video is a 1989 Benz, which led a lot of people to speculate that 1989 may be the next album rerecording she’ll release:
she's really doing this...
Taylor confirmed that this was intentional on TikTok.
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Speaking of 1989...
2. The All Too Well book revealed at the end resembles Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's cover...
"Wonderland" is a track from 1989, which features the lyrics, "We took a wrong turn and we fell down a rabbit hole." Taylor referenced this line on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this week:
“Down a rabbit hole” “We’re all mad here” WONDERLAND EASTER EGG 1989 TAYLORS VERSION
Basically, Taylor is dropping clues that 1989 has a very good chance of being released next.
3. The scarf is an obvious one, but it's been so mythologized by Taylor and the fandom for years. In the video, we see Her wearing the scarf, leaving it on the banister, and eventually we see it worn by Him after the dissolution of the relationship.
4. Another slightly obvious one for Swifties — we see what could be the infamous birthday celebration that Taylor's boyfriend at the time didn't show up for. It's referenced in the film and in "The Moment I Knew," and clearly played a role in the breakup.
5. The film's birthday scene also seems to reference the "Lover" music video birthday scene. The ATW shirt is similar to the "Lover" video dress, and the fact that her boyfriend showed up for her birthday during "Lover" showed how she was able to move on to a healthy relationship with Joe Alwyn (whom "Lover" is about).
the way her happy-birthday dress in "Lover" matches the green & black plaid shirt the boyfriend left behind for her sad birthday in "All Too Well"
6. The action of Him dropping Her's hand is referenced in the Evermore fan favorite, "Champagne Problems."
7. An obscure one: The thumbtack we see in the typewriter scene was actually hinted at by Jimmy Fallon in a TikTok promoting Taylor's appearance earlier this week. Normally he has boring, clear ones, but for Taylor he had a red one:
THATS why he switched the thumbtacks!!! we weren’t clowning!!!
9. The film features Him and Her playing cards, which seems to reference Ed Sheeran's song "Joker and Queen." Ed said he was planning a remix of the song with an American artist — many now think Taylor.
WAIT. one of the easter eggs is for the joker and the queen remix!! #AllTooWellTheShortFilm
He wears the jacket in the "Overpass Graffiti" video.
10. The film has chapters throughout — which ultimately makes sense when it's revealed at the end that Taylor is the author. This is a metaphor for Taylor IRL and Taylor the ATW character healing from her pain through art.
when you realize the chapter titles during the #AllTooWellTheShortFilm are Easter eggs for how she becomes an author at the end 👁👄👁
Taylor liked this tweet, confirming the theory.
11. The "later on" version of Him is played by Jake Lyon, who, obviously, we know is most likely a reference to Tay's ex Jake Gyllenhaal.
💀💀💀
12. Back in October, Taylor wrote the new "All Too Well" lyrics in the "All Too Well" notebook in her TikTok montage about fall.
13. And lastly, Taylor's lucky, iconic number 13 plays a role in the short film. First, it starts at the 0:13 mark when Her says, "Are you for real?"
![Arrow pointing to the 0:13 point with "[Woman] Are you for real?"](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2021-11/13/18/asset/c6023e333326/sub-buzz-4624-1636826945-37.jpg)
Then, at the 13:00 mark, we see "Written & Directed by Taylor Swift." Making her short-film directorial debut is a big moment for Taylor.
That's all, folks! You can watch the incredible film here:
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