The Life of a Showgirl Movie Review

“Celebrate The Official Release Party of a Showgirl in cinemas only October 4th - 5th. See the exclusive world premiere of the music video, ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, along with behind-the-scenes footage from the music video shoot, brand new lyric videos, and Taylor’s never-before-seen personal reflections on songs from her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.”  Event Cinema.

Taylor Swift’s new movie follows the release of her album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ and shows the launch of her music video ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ which can be seen as a strong example of her talented directing style. The 89-minute movie also includes a few cuts back and forth from her lyric videos, behind the scenes footage and Taylors own reflection on each song. This movie is the first time Taylor has done a launch party the same week as her album coming out, so it was very exciting for ‘Swifties’.

‘The Fate of Ophelia’ music effectively demonstrates her artistic style and ideas. You can see the time and effort in not just the video but the behind the scenes. These feature Taylor’s fun side and how she incorporates joy into creating her vision. The video incorporated every dancer from the ‘Eras Tour’, which was a fun add on for all the fans that were following along with her tour.

I admit the first time listening to some of the songs on the album, I didn’t get the concept or the lyrics. For example, track 5, ‘Eldest Daughter’, where the very first line “Everybody’s so punk on the internet”, felt notably surface level and appeared drastically different from her other songs and previous albums. Although, hearing Taylor speak about each song, gave me a different perspective, she didn’t want this album to be deep and meaningful like ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ or ‘Folklore’, it was meant to be fun and pop.

‘The Fate of Ophelia’, is based off Shakespeare’s Ophelia from the play ‘Hamlet’. Who was driven to death by the men in her life, she was treated like a child, and as a woman in the 1800s, she did not know her own personal identity. In Taylors song, she uses the term ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ to mean she was saved from the same fate by her Fiancé Travis. The movie made me realise the deeper meaning behind the song, though it is portrayed in a pop song.

Throughout the movie, I only had one note. The movie started with showing the music video and then shows the behind-the-scenes footage. You hear Taylor’s personal thoughts behind each scene, and there were things I didn’t note when I watched it the first time. Though at the very end, after Taylor explains her concept behind the song ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, we see the music video one more time. It made the whole documentary feel complete.

Cover Image from the Trailer. Taylor Swift and Republic Records. Copyright 2025 all rights reserved.