Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well’ short film was released Nov. 12, 2021. Swift wrote, directed, and produced her debut film in 2021, coming up with the idea when she started to re-record her album “Red.” The film is about Swift and her relationship the song is portraying. It takes place in 2012 at the time of Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhall’s relationship and is played based on the 10-minute version of the original song “All Too Well.”

This film stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien with Sink acting as young Swift and O’Brien showing the side of Jake Gyllenhall, who Swift was dating before the song was written about their breakup. The casting of these two actors is brilliantly thought out considering both actors have an extremely similar age difference as Swift and Gyllenhall were when they were dating. But not only is the age similar, the casting of the two actors is ironically symbolic based on how they were perceived in the public eye in their careers.

Sadie Sink started her career as a child actor in the public eye, being most known in the media for her role on the Netflix show “Stranger Things,” a role she has played since she was 14 years old. Sink has grown up in the media and been seen as a young “innocent” actress her entire career.

On the other hand, Dylan O’Brien is an actor who also started relatively young in the film industry, starting at 19 years old, and landing large roles on projects such as “Teen Wolf” and the Maze Runner series. Looking back at O’Brien’s acting portfolio, the irony in his casting in this film is his career starting at 19 years old and Sadie Sink being 19 years old in the process of filming, which surely was not a coincidence. O’Brien was also at the peak of his acting career and at his peak in the public eye almost 10 years ago, while Sadie has recently been seen as a child in the media. This is important because Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal had the same relationship dynamic as Sink and O’Brien, showing the parallels between Swift’s life and her work in this film.

Furthermore, both actors have played their roles well, making a significant profit off this film. Not only do both actors love and respect Swift and her career, but they accepted these roles and made them their own, improving most scenes they are in together. They brought a relatability to this film, showing the reality of a break up and replaying the true experience Swift had in her relationship at the young age of 19. “Red (Taylor’s Version)” dropped Nov. 12, and this film truly helped market the success she has achieved with re-recording her own music.