Taylor Swift has unveiled the music video for her new song “Patient Zero,” part of her extended album The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, with an unexpected dark twist at the end.
The video, premiered at the MTV Music Video Awards Sunday after Swift accepted the inaugural Artist Director Honor, depicts 50 Shades of Grey actor Dakota Johnson as the latest woman scorned by a seemingly perfect man, played by The Penguin star Colin Farrell.
In the video, it emerges that Swift’s character is the man’s ex, who’s come back as a ghost to warn Johnson’s character that he is actually dangerous.
Throughout the video, Johnson and Swift wear the same outfits and live parallel lives, and the singer watches closely while Johnson struggles in the relationship. The video cuts to flashbacks of Swift being harmed by Farrell’s character, and him adding poison to her drink.
The music video ends with Johnson looking at a grave that’s revealed to belong to Swift’s character. The actor leaves a rose atop the gravestone for the woman.
“Patient Zero” tells the story of a woman reflecting on her relationship with a toxic ex, and Swift is the “patient zero” in the scenario.
The broad term patient zero typically refers to the first individual identified with a disease or an illness in a new outbreak.
In the song, Swift describes a man who “burst into your life like fireworks” before revealing his true colors. She describes that the man had “the devil on his shoulder under his halo” and that he used her for social climbing.
She then addresses Johnson’s character, singing: “It’s not for me to tell someone else what to do / But if you’re sick of him / I got you / I was patient zero.”
“I know it seems like he shines so bright / But he's bathing in your reflected light / On a free solo social climb,” she sings, also alluding to infidelity: “And when you saw another woman coming out of his place / I bet he kissed the rain off your face.”
At the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, Swift accepted the first Artist Director Honors, establishing her as the most decorated performer in the event's history with 33 wins. Swift was previously tied with Beyoncé at 30 trophies each, while Eminem holds the men’s record with 15.
It comes after Swift released four new songs earlier this week as part of her extended album. Additional songs include “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.”
The release has been subject to mixed reviews from both fans and critics, with “Patient Zero” emerging as a strong favorite across the board.
The Independent’s music editor Roisin O’Connor gave the release two stars, writing that “Patient Zero” was a “diamond” track, while the rest were “duds.”
“Swift’s relentless output of late should suggest she’s on one hell of a creative streak, but the returns in the past few years have dwindled,” wrote O’Connor.
