After a year-long musical hiatus during the first “Wicked” movie’s promotional cycle, Ariana Grande has released not only a deluxe version of her latest album, ”Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead," but also a cinematic representation to go with it. Accompanied by music from the original version of the album as well as the deluxe version, the short film “Brighter Days Ahead” has Grande starring as the main character, Peaches. Returning to the screen from March of 2024, where Peaches starred in the video for Ariana Grande's most popular single off of "Eternal Sunshine", "We Can't Be Friends."Previously, Brighter Days Inc. erased a young Peaches’ painful memories. This time, an elderly Peaches gets to relive her good memories, illustrating Grande’s path to moving on after her divorce and her journey of personal growth as she ages.
The first memory includes a montage of home video footage of Grande’s family from her youth. In chronological order, this gives us a glimpse of the loving, growth-promoting environment she was raised in. The compilation is played to the tune of the non-extended version of Grande’s song "Intro – End of the World," welcoming the viewer into her world of self-reflection.
To the tune of "Eternal Sunshine" from the album’s first edition, her second memory shows modern-day Peaches on an isolated stage, using a looping machine to recreate the complex vocal arrangements Grande is known for. She performs the chorus of “Eternal Sunshine” and part of her song "Dandelion" in front of a screen that shifts from a galaxy background to footage of cheering crowds.
The third memory begins with Peaches navigating out of a destroyed, partially flooded home. Notably, the objects Brighter Days Inc. destroyed in the "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" music video are in the wreckage as she makes her way outside. Greeted by an apocalyptic landscape, she performs her song "Supernatural" while walking through the rubble.
Her fourth and final memory is shown in the form of a vintage black-and-white film. It begins with an unkempt man looking solemnly at a picture of young Peaches in a locket in an old saloon, holding a beating heart in a burlap sack. As he returns home, a scene referencing the original Frankenstein film shows her father physically piecing her back together.
Variety summarized the film's meaning well: “It feels like a capstone on a conflicting chapter in her life, an opportunity to say things that were left unsaid and address how challenging — and restorative — it can be to face what you've endured."
As for my impressions, "Brighter Days Ahead" had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I watched it, and not just during my first run through. “Brighter Days Ahead” has maintained its intensity in all four re-watches since.
Every time I watch the film, I find new pieces of the puzzle to put together, whether it's a meaningful object in the background, movie references, connections to real-life events, or the pairing of lyrics with timed events.
Even after my fifth watch, nothing stands out as filler. Nothing placed on that set or written within the script was coincidental—every action, event, color, shape, outfit choice, background setting, or simple decoration came together to create a cohesive story of heartbreak and recovery.
The credits for this piece are massive, and for good reason. Not a single ounce of forethought or effort was spared in its creation.
The only sin this film has committed is one of non-action; it only includes two of the six tracks added in the album's deluxe version. I would have loved to see a glimpse of "Warm" before "Supernatural" in the third memory.
I suppose the other tracks would have required additional scenes to justify their inclusion without making the transitions sound unorganized compared to the visuals in front of them.
However, the film's selective nature makes its messages all the more powerful. Instead of struggling to take in and connect the meanings of components in a surplus of content, I found myself racing to understand the symbolism in tandem with the lyrics during each brief scene.
For highlights, the symbolism within and beyond the wrecked home of the third memory commanded my gaze as soon as the scene started. A destroyed home transitions to Peaches walking out into an apocalyptic landscape, representing the destruction of Grande’s public image through tabloid assumptions and the frenzy of tabloid gossip.
Her messaging couldn't have been clearer.
The first impression of the fourth memory, where Grande’s father is carrying her beating heart in a small burlap sack, was striking to say the least. The man tries everything to get Peaches to wake up after hand-sewing her back together, and, as Grande says in part one of the behind-the-scenes series on her YouTube channel, "The thing that clicks is music …."
Grande continued, "The same thing that has made my life complicated in some ways is what heals me time and time again."
The “Brighter Days Ahead” short film is the best companion to the deluxe album I could have hoped for. Though Grande has made it clear that creating new music is not her focus at the moment, I don't think there's a better way she could have ended this chapter.
Ariana Grande's short film, "Ariana Grande - Brighter Days Ahead," moves audiences by broadcasting her favorite memories from before she moved to London and the profound experiences that have led to the resolution of hardships she faced in the last few years.
Co-directed, Co-Written, and Starred in by Ariana Grande, her new short film, "Ariana Grande - Brighter Days Ahead," provides audiences with insight into Grande's upbringing, career highlights, heartbreak, and Journey of self-discovery she has undertaken since the release of her 2021 album, "Positions." The film is available to watch for free on Grande's YouTube Channel.
Ariana Grande - Brighter Days Ahead (behind the scenes, part one)
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