The Official Release Party of a Showgirl played on movie screens from Marseille to Melbourne this weekend, bagging Taylor Swift box office gold.
For her much-hyped 12th album, the Pennsylvanian-born billionaire entertainer welcomed Swifties far and wide into her decadent Showgirl world. Not only could fans listen to all 12 songs from ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ this weekend, they were also invited to experience them visually in theatres.
Front and centre of the Showgirl film was ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ the first track on the album and its first single. An ode to her fiancé Travis Kelce saving her from the same fate as lyrical protagonist Ophelia, who drowned in a river during Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Swift describes the Showgirl film as “art history for pop fans.”
The album’s cover image of Swift partially submerged in a bathtub is an homage to a painting of Ophelia created by British artist John Everett Millais.
“The painting is a reference to mythology, and the ending [of the music video] is a reference to the cover art,” Swift explains in the documentary.
Chronologically, the Showgirl documentary moves from the polished choreography of the finished ‘Ophelia’ music video, into a behind-the-scenes look at what went into making it. Interspersed between the eight ‘scenes’ of the Ophelia video are breakdowns – and lyrics – of each of the tracks on the Showgirl record.
It makes for a visual feast of showgirls from bygone eras, each played by Swift decked out in sumptuous attire and surrounded by her similarly adorned cortege.
In addition to shining as the star of the Ophelia music video, Swift conceived and directed it.
“This music video is a journey throughout different time periods, where historically you could be a showgirl,” says Swift in the film.
“If you were in the public eye back during the 1800s, you’d sit for a pre-Raphaelite painting. Or you could be a showgirl by being a cabaret, burlesque club performer. Or you could be a theatrical actor putting on a performance, or a Vegas showgirl, or one of the girls in the Busby Berkeley screen siren era of the ’30s and ’40s.”
Each of these ideas is brought to life with the vibrancy we have come to expect from one of the richest self-made women in the world.
“I’ve been in rehearsals for about three weeks so far, choreographing all of the camera movements, the actual dance, lighting tests and everything,” says Swift. “Because when we do this shoot it all has to go perfectly. There is no editing or cutting of the scene, we have to be able to run this performance seamlessly.”
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Swift’s trademark command of detail has already paid off. Not only was the theatrical film the highest-grossing at the box office over the weekend, Ophelia has already surpassed 10 million views on Youtube.
The second most popular video on Alphabet’s streaming platform is The Life of a Showgirl, featuring Eras tour sidekick Sabrina Carpenter. Third is Opalite, a sparkling blue-hued synchronised swimming-reminiscent Busby Berkeley tribute to Kelce.
“Opalite is a man-made opal. I love the metaphor of a man-made gemstone, and that you have to make your own happiness,” says Swift. “You have to get yourself through some difficult times to get to the positive place. It doesn’t just happen to you, you have to fight for it, work for it, earn it.”
Fresh from a sold-out global tour of 51 cities that grossed USD$2 billion, Swift is well accustomed to hard work. Breaking touring records is not the only major career milestone she achieved in 2025. In May, Swift bought back her masters that had been sold by former manager Scott Borchetta and his partner, music manager – and Swift-nemesis – Scooter Braun.
The bitter fight over ownership of her masters, which propelled Swift to re-record many of the albums into ‘Taylor’s versions,’ is said to have inspired Father Figure, the fourth track on the album. An interpolation of George Michael’s smash hit by the same name, the song features ascerbic vocals hinting at broken promises, role reversal, and upending poisonous masculinity.
“I thought it could be cool to use the line of ‘father figure’ as a creative writing prompt and turn it into a story about power,” Swift explains. “It’s a story about a young ingenue and their mentor, and the way that that relationship can change over time. Betrayal, wit, cunning, cleverness, strategy, and essentially, who’s gonna outplay and outfox the other.”
Swift says she can relate to both the ingenue and powerbroker characters referenced in the song, and says pointedly that collaborating with George Michael’s estate on the track was important to her.
“We reached out to his family, and just made sure that everything was okay before we ever did anything. I know how sacred it is when someone else has written something so brilliant, and the importance of honouring that. Father Figure is a song that I love so much.”
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