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Although Taylor Swift's name is often discussed with her contribution to the music industry and her legacy of being a pop icon, her relationship with cinema deserves it's own spotlight. Over the course of her career, Swift has been a subject of multiple documentaries and has had her fair share of roles on the screen as well.
From a cameo in Amsterdam to playing Bombalurina in the musical Cats, and a lot of documentaries that explored her career in music and how she balances it all, Taylor Swift's on-screen presence deserves a conversation and that's what we're doing today as she turns thirty six. So take a break from the listening party and here are five Taylor Swift films you should definitely watch on her birthday.
Taylor Swift: Miss Americana
As a fan of Taylor Swift's music, if there's one film you shoul most definitely watch, then it's her documentary Miss Americana. Titled after one of her songs on her album Lover, the documentary deep dived into her life, her music and everything she is behind the curtains of being a pop star.
Directed by Lana Wilson, the documentary follows Taylor Swift during a fragile, in between chapter of her life, stretching from the Reputation Stadium Tour to the rollout of Lover. Cameras catch her not at her most triumphant, but at her most human, wrestling with self doubt, public backlash, political awakening, and the cost of being endlessly palatable.
The film inclides various pivotal moments of her career, like her personal relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, her political stance, her relationship with her friends, and the infamous drama between her and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. The film is widely regarded as one of the best documentaries ever made, and it's a wonderful way to know Taylor Swift and the woman she is behind all the glitz and glamour.
Available to watch on: Netflix.
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions was Taylor Swift's gift to her fans during the pandemic, supporting her album Folklore, which became one of the biggest albums of her career and won her a Grammy award. The documentary placed Swift inside Long Pond Studio, a quiet wooden cabun alongwith her collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. Surrounded by trees, water and soft light, Swift performed all the seventeen tracks from the album, stripped bare, in an intimate studio setting with acoustics.
Directed by Taylo Swift herself, the film is more like a conversation rather than a performance. Alongside Dessner and Antonoff, she discusses her inspiration behind all the songs, breaking down the lyrics and how the song came to existence and how it relates to her life. She also opens up more about collaborating with her then partner Joe Alwyn on the album, revealing for the first time that they wrote some of the songs together.
The documntary also features Justin Vernon, member of the indie band Bon Iver who she collaborated with on the song Exile. Among most of her other cinematic projects, this one stands out as the most intimate, personal and raw look at her music.
Available to watch on: Disney+.
All Too Well: The Short Film
All Too Well: The Short Film became Swift's most personal, and in the coming yearsm her proudest project. Written and directed by herself, the fourteen minute shoft film accompanied her song All Too Well's ten minute version, as the film transforms a beloved song into a lived in narrative about love, imbalance, and the slow violence of being diminished by someone older and louder.
Starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, the film traces a relationship that burns bright and collapses just as violently. The film tracks the couple's relationships, messy in parts and devastating for the girl, who struggles with the relationship because of the age gap and power dynamics.
Shot on 35 mm film, the visual texture is intimate and bruised, mirroring the emotional decay onscreen. Influences from Barbara Stanwyck, John Cassavetes, and Noah Baumbach are visible, but never derivative. Swift understands that heartbreak is rarely cinematic in the moment, and it shows in the film's visuals.
Towards the end, Taylor Swift appears herself, as an older version of Sink's character who has now become an author. All Too Well: The Short Film wet on to win several Best Music Video accolades, including a Grammy, a Billboard Music Award, an American Music Award and an Europe Music Award.
Available to watch on: YouTube.
Valentine's Day
Taylor Swift's debut film Valentine's Day was her first step into the world of cinema, and a memorable one at that too. Swift played the role of Felicia Miller, a bright eyed high school student who was navigating her first love opposite Taylor Lautner's Willy Harrington. She plays innocence with intention, delivering a performance that mirrors the confessional, diary like vulnerability that defined her music during that era. In a film packed with big stars and intersecting love stories, her role feels grounded and oddly intimate.
The film also featured her song Today Was A Fairytale, which was later included in her version of Fearless.
Available to watch on: Prime Video.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is a victory lap, a flex, and a masterclass in how to bend an entire industry to your will. Released in 2023 and directed by Sam Wrench, the film captures Swift’s record shattering Los Angeles shows at SoFi Stadium and translates a once in a lifetime live experience into something just as electric on screen.
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On screen, the film unfolds as a carefully choreographed journey through ten distinct eras of Swift’s career. It opens with her album Lover, all pastel confidence and theatrical joy, and moves seamlessly through all the albums as she continues to interact with her audience. It also includes surprise songs, which are songs not from the setlist that she surprises her audience with. ater on, she also released Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: The Final Show, a longer and unabridged version of the show that included new footage from her album The Tortured Poets Department.
Available to watch on: Disney+.
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