Not only Taylor Swift’s (34) new album “The Tortured Poets Department” has been available in stores since April 19th. The singer also shared the first video for her new album with the world on the night of April 20th.
The clip for the single “Fortnight”, which is kept entirely in black and white, has already received over ten million views around ten hours after it was published on the video platform YouTube. The four-minute video features, among others, rapper Post Malone (28), who worked with Swift on “Fortnight” – alongside several other prominent guest stars. Below are five details about the “Fortnight” video.
Even before the release of “The Tortured Poets Department”, numerous commentators pointed out that the title of the album was reminiscent of the classic film “The Dead Poets Society”. With Ethan Hawke (53) and Josh Charles (52), two iconic actors from the legendary coming-of-age film from 1990 are also represented in Swift’s “Fortnight” video. They play scientists working on Swift in a lab while the musician is tied to an upright table.
Both actors and video guest stars have now also spoken out on Instagram. Hawke said it was “a great honor” to be in front of the camera with Swift, while Charles admitted in a separate post that he had long admired the “Cruel Summer” interpreter. Swift is “genuine, friendly, approachable and just an all-around great person – not to mention a great director who has it all,” said the actor about the singer, who also directed the video for “Fortnight.”
Swift herself described Hawke and Charles as the “coolest guys in the world” in an Instagram post and thanked the two stars for their appearance.
Rapper Post Malone plays an even bigger role in the video for “Fortnight,” and he can also be heard on the track. In a short sequence of the clip, Swift wipes her face with a cloth, gradually revealing tattoos.
As “Elle” notes, among others, the singer’s fake facial tattoos in the video correspond exactly to those that Post Malone had in real life.
Shortly after the first scenes from the “Fortnight” video were released, numerous fans noticed that the dress that Taylor Swift is wearing towards the end of the clip when she destroys a mirror in a psychiatric hospital by throwing an object is similar to the dress that the singer wore to this year’s Grammy Awards.
The similarity between the strapless, white gown by Schiaparelli, in which Swift shone at the awards ceremony, and the also strapless, white dress by Australian designer Toni Matičevski (47), in which Swift can be seen in the “Fortnight” video, are actually cannot be dismissed out of hand. In the opinion of many “Swifties”, the singer created an Easter egg – a hidden, discoverable reference – to her later video.
Swift’s new “Fortnight” video also bears a strong visual resemblance to last year’s arthouse hit “Poor Things.” The work, starring Hollywood star Emma Stone (35), which won a total of four Academy Awards at this year’s Oscars, also impressed with a surreal look reminiscent of Victorian times.
In addition, the “Fortnight” scene in which Swift receives electric shocks from the aforementioned guest stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles is strongly reminiscent of a similar setting in “Poor Things”, in which the scientist Dr. Dr., played by Willem Dafoe (68). Godwin Baxter brought the character Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stones, back to life using electric shocks in the best “Frankenstein” style.
These visual parallels are not surprising, as Oscar winner Emma Stone and Swift are considered good friends. Just last December, the singer supported Stone at the New York premiere of “Poor Things,” while Swift got the actress tickets for her ongoing “The Eras” tour. At the time, Stone said he had been friends with Swift since she was “17 and 18 years old.”
Since the release of the “Fortnight” video, Swifties and attentive viewers have also noticed many other details in the clip. In the video, for example, Swift is given a “forget him” pill while tied to a bed in a psychiatric hospital. The numbers “121389-041924” can be seen on the accompanying upside-down pill bottle – the period from Swift’s birth on December 13, 1989 to the release of “The Tortured Poets Department” album on April 19, 2024.
Another example of one of the numerous allusions and hidden details in the “Fortnight” video: The title card at the very end of the clip features a cat in all four corners – and singer Swift is known to own three of them in real life.
