Ariana Grande gave us not only a deluxe album but a short film?! Yes, the singer released her short film, brighter days ahead, on March 28 along with six new tracks on her deluxe album. And if the lyrics to “Hampstead” or “dandelion” weren’t enough to get you in your feels, Grande’s short film definitely does the job. The 26-minute film took fans on a journey and left many in tears as they watched.
The film starts with Grande’s character Peaches — who we were introduced to in the “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” music video — returning to Brighter Days Inc. as an old woman to relive her memories one last time. During her session, we see four of Peaches’s memories, which include family videos and visuals for songs like “eternal sunshine,” “dandelion,” and “supernatural.”
However, it’s the visuals of her first memory soundtracked by her song “intro (end of the world)” and “Hampstead” that really had fans in an emotional spiral.
Peaches’s first memory takes viewers on a trip into Grande’s personal life as we see old family clips of her Nonna and her grandfather dancing. We also get a glimpse into her parents’s love life as well as some cute childhood moments between Grande, her mom, and older brother Frankie.
This look into her life has many of us crying, especially as we also see Grande looking up to those memories so fondly.
ariana grande watching her grandparents and younger self had me bawling…. pic.twitter.com/EVTfaGzU2C
— ໊ (@buffys) March 28, 2025
the fcking families videos, the fans in the background, the damn whole memory with her dad bringing her back to life?????? ARIANA COME HERE WE NEED TO TALK. pic.twitter.com/pk94YGN3Df
— mat⁴🫧 (@offtheway_) March 28, 2025
Ariana’s Brighter Days Ahead short film got me crying rn when the first memory showed her grandfather 🥺 If you’re an OG fan you remember when he passed 😫 pic.twitter.com/W4e9bp6FYL
— Raven (@raveissance_) March 28, 2025
If that wasn’t enough, Grande brings her dad, Edward Butera, in for a special cameo in her last memory, which was paired with the song “Hampstead.” Here, fans see the singer’s dad carrying a childhood picture of her and reliving a memory of him gifting her a necklace. Back in her dad’s studio, viewers see a burning newspaper with the headline “Doctor’s Daughter Torn Apart By” and although we do not know what tore his daughter apart, we do see him trying to sew her back together.
It wasn’t until he played a song from a music box that Peaches starts to come back to life. With the images of her and her father playing the piano together after he brought her back to life and the gradually increasing chorus of “Hampstead,” can you really blame us for crying?
ariana’s father feeling like he lost his daughter irl and fictionally her character died then him bringing her back to life…. THIS IS CINEMA 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/urn3YCbOTB
— ໊ (@buffys) March 28, 2025
the fact that in the end her dad put her back together…
only the real fans know ariana’s relationship with her father has been so rocky and now they are on good terms and he has helped her through so much! pic.twitter.com/jno4lJIdQH
— Brighter Days Ahead (@yenvengerbergg) March 28, 2025
ariana being repaired by her dad oh my god i need a hug pic.twitter.com/ZgWzv2nqIc
— t 𖦹 ☼ ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ (@betterofftere) March 28, 2025
Don’t mind if I rewatch the film a couple more times. After all, like younger Grande mentions at the end of the film, “We should live each day as if it was the last day of our life.”