Ariana Grande is shedding light on how her Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead short film came together, with the pop star sharing behind-the-scenes footage on her YouTube channel Thursday (April 17).
Posted about three weeks after the project dropped — alongside the deluxe edition of Grande’s Billboard 200-topping Eternal Sunshine album — the video opens with the “Yes, And?” singer explaining the premise of her sci-fi-tinged visual. “This whole short film concept is basically about how when we’re young, sometimes we want to erase certain things, or rewrite certain things that feel painful in the moment,” she tells the camera, her neck and face made up to look like her skin was crudely stitched back together for one of the film’s Frankenstein-inspired scenes.
“But when we grow older, we would do anything to relive those moments, and we’re so grateful for them and for how they made us who we are and helped us become who we are today,” she continues.
In the short film, Grande reprises her role as Peaches from the “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” music video, this time several decades older and visiting the Brighter Days clinic to relive her old memories. Donning special makeup to make her look elderly, the Grammy winner watches herself as a child hanging out with her family, performing for thousands of fans, walking through the wreckage of a house she used to share with a romantic partner, and eventually getting abducted by a UFO.
The behind-the-scenes clip also features Grande giving fans a tour of the house set, pointing out her favorite details alongside co-director Christian Breslauer. It also gives fans a look at how they pulled off the UFO stunt, hooking the Wicked star up to special wires that hoist her up into the air.
Elsewhere in the new video, Grande explains the meaning behind a scene in which a crazed doctor — played by her real life father, Ed Butera — brings her back to life by injecting her with musical soundwaves. “My dad played the part of this mad doctor-scientist so beautifully,” she says over footage of the father-daughter pair filming the sequence. “The same thing that has made my life complicated in certain ways is also the same thing that heals me time and time again, and that is music.”
“It’s also been the most beautiful gift of my life and has always been the thing that has helped me heal — along with therapy and learning to take care of myself and boundaries,” she continues. “But time and time again, that’s always been the thing that puts me back together, as well as my family and healing those wounds as well. This is called when you have too many ideas and too many resources, it can go any which way.”
While sitting on the bed in one of the sets with Breslauer, Grande also gushes about how meaningful Eternal Sunshine has been to her. Originally released in March 2024, the project spent two weeks in the Billboard 200 top spot — to which it returned a year later with the deluxe release — and spawned two Billboard Hot 100-topping singles with “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends.”
“I’m so grateful,” she tells the camera. “It’s my favorite album, and you’re my favorite director. These are my favorite videos, so yeah, we’re going to overdo it.”
Watch the behind-the-scenes video above.
