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“That’s Not How This Works”: Charlie Puth and Sabrina Carpenter Short Film Analysis

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter.

At the end of March, Charlie Puth released the short film “That’s Not How This Works”, co-starring the pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter. The production is the first short film made by Puth, who considers that songs can say so much more than only the lyrics. He talked about it in Youtube’s comment section:

“To date I’ve made 34 music videos, and they rarely feel like they say the whole truth about a song. There’s always more to say, and it’s usually just outside the music. It’s more in the moments, and that’s how my brain has always processed things – finally, I was able to make something to recreate truly what this song means to me. I cannot wait for you to hear it. But first, you have to watch the movie – I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.”

The short film starts with Charlie revisiting an apartment, which later we discover it was home to the couple. In a sort of a sci-fi way, he tries to find lost sounds of the last moments experienced with his romantic partner because now they are broken up.

We can see a heartbroken Charlie trying to connect his memories by recording them into cassette tapes, forming a long collection that represents the moments shared by the couple. He chooses to replay those moments, and all of the memories come to the screen: birthday surprises, painting walls together, the first “I love you”, and subtly a tense atmosphere emerges as the relationship declines: the little discussions evolve to pretty intense fights, they scream at each other without any filter.

In conclusion, the film talks about how it feels to be healing from all the hurt that a turbulent relationship can do. Despite the broken heart, the protagonist feels good about reliving his good memories with his ex-girlfriend, but he also recognizes how toxic the relationship was becoming. The two together manage to make the best decision for themselves.

This artwork introduces Puth’s first single of 2023, entitled “That’s Not How This Works”, featuring Dan + Shay, a country American duo. You can listen to it here. Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter just released the deluxe version of her last album, “emails i can’t send”. Carpenter is also coming to Brazil! She’ll be playing on MITA Festival 2023, at São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Learn more

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The article above was edited by Giullia Cartaxo.

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Sofia Faltz

Casper Libero '26

brazilian journalism student and coffee enthusiast <3