Official "Psycho" Music Video
Despite the single being out for a week, with the video being confirmed to come out soon almost every day now, the video was put on delay until now due to errors with both Taylor Swift's and Paige Elliot's labels. However, now, the video has officially premiered on Elliot's VEVO account. As part of the promotion for the video, it's also being broadcast in New York City's Times Square megatron with the audio playing audibly throughout the area as well.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, the video uses the metaphor of a toxic relationship by showing Elliot and Swift attempting to kill their lover. The video is notable for showing the two in the same situation (even with the same lover), in identical surroundings and circumstances for the most part of the video with the exception of a few scenes.
The video opens up to Paige in a bedroom, dressed rather formally and standing before a mirror. The music isn't playing yet, and all that's heard is the sound of her quietly humming to herself. She seems to be getting ready for something, and she touches her face a lot as if she's concerned with it. A cut is made, showing Taylor doing the exact same things; the girls do identical things in this scene, and throughout the entire video, doing exactly the same thing as each other.
Taylor moves over to the kitchen, and it appears she has food cooking. She prods at a steak on the grill, and slices off a small amount to taste it. She seems happy with it. As she begins to set table placings down on a large, enormous dinner table in an extravagant dining room, the song begins, though subtly in the background with the natural noises of the footage playing over them. The twangy guitar of the intro plays on loop, repeating the 5-10 second melody over and over as the video cuts to Paige finishing placing the settings and then beginning to put the food onto the table. There's the sound of a door opening and closing, and it cuts to Taylor looking up and smiling while saying "Welcome home, honey!"
The song actually begins, taking over the audio as the man Taylor welcomes in is revealed to be Alexander Skarsgard. He's clearly married to her, and he doesn't show much emotion to her as he sits down at the dinner table. Taylor runs over to the kitchen and appears to pour rat poison into a glass of wine before bringing the wine over to Alexander to drink. The video cuts to Paige, who smirks as she sits down and watches him about to take a sip of the wine. Alexander suddenly, dumps out the wine, reaching in front of him to a glass of water as Paige looks a bit disappointed.
Paige then gets up, walking over to Alexander as the pre-chorus goes on, where she proceeds to give him a kiss on the cheek while picking up a carving knife. She holds it in her hand, resting her arm on his shoulder as she stands behind him, kissing the back of his head. Alexander quickly grabs her arm, twisting it around and forcing her to drop the knife.
The video cuts to Taylor, who seems like she's in extreme pain as a result of the action Alexander just pulled.
The chorus suddenly begins, and the video cuts to a new shot, showing Taylor outside on a gray, muggy day, dressed in a white dress and looking rather depressed as she sings the chorus. She walks around a field, which slowly becomes a dark, eerie forest as she continues to sing over the ethereal instrumental, giving the camera a dark stare.
As the bridge begins, the video cuts back to Paige, who is now sitting as her husband begins to cut up the steak she made. He then makes an obvious attempt to stab her, to which Paige responds by grabbing his arm and stabbing the knife into the table. She rolls her eyes and begins to walk away.
The video cuts to Taylor, who peers around a corner as Alexander begins to walk away. The video shows a closeup on the floor of the hallway Alexander is walking down, revealing there's a bear trap on it. Alexander scoffs at the bear trap, then kicking it away as he proceeds to walk over to the bedroom.
The video returns to Paige, who walks into the bedroom with him and whispers something in his ear. He seems to smirk at this, and it cuts to him tied up, almost naked, as Paige is in lingerie above him.
As the chorus begins again, it cuts to Taylor in the same position, as she begins to attempt to strangle Alexander with a piece of fabric while he's tied up. As Alexander struggles for his life, the color of the film begins to fade, becoming less and less saturated. It stops before it becomes completely black and white, but the effect is stunning. Finally, Alexander stops struggling, and Taylor gets off of him, walking over to the mirror in the bedroom again. She looks at the reflection, but instead of it being her, it shows Paige, mirroring Taylor's actions. The two look at each other in the eyes as the chorus ends, and they look as if they're without hope.
As the whole middle 8 begins, the video cuts to a solo shot of Paige, sitting in a white and grey room, wearing a white dress. The shots are trippy, coming in at weird angles, but Paige doesn't seem to move from her spot on a white seat at all as the camera begins to go insane.
The video returns to the identical situations between Taylor & Paige, with Paige as the focus again, showing her get dressed in a skinny black dress and a large fur coat. She looks back at the deceased Alexander, and runs out of the apartment. As she exits the apartment, it cuts to Taylor, who runs out of the building and out onto a snowy winter street. Everything is dark, with barely anything but the snow and Taylor visible. As the final chorus begins, on repeat, it just shows Taylor walking, cutting to Paige when she sings the chorus, and back and forth. The visual begins to fade out as the song does as well, bringing an end to the video.