"Coming for the Grammys and Oscars and VMAs"- Fans react to Ariana Grande's latest short film Brighter Days Ahead
Ariana Grande’s latest short film, Brighter Days Ahead, has taken social media by storm following its release on March 28, 2025. Fans have flooded X (formerly Twitter) with reactions, praising the visual storytelling, emotional depth, and cinematic quality of the 26-minute film.
Released alongside the Eternal Sunshine Deluxe album, Brighter Days Ahead marks the return of Grande’s character, Peaches, and serves as a cinematic extension of her recent music era. The short film has garnered widespread acclaim from fans, with many anticipating award recognition for its storytelling and production value.
"Coming for the Grammys and Oscars and VMAs and every award show!" one user posted.
Ariana Grande's signature visuals have also been widely celebrated, with fans emphasizing her ability to create a magical experience.
"Let's goooo her visuals never miss she always brings something magical," another fan wrote.
"Ariana’s visuals always hit different. Can’t wait to see the full artistic vision behind this era," other one commented on X.
Some fans expressed their emotional response to the film, while others speculated about the film’s deeper meaning.
"Gosh this was soo good😭 I cried," one user shared.
"She’s saying goodbye to us," someone else stated.
"Omg we're not ready," a person said.
Brighter Days Ahead explores memories, love, and loss
The film, co-directed by Ariana Grande and Christian Breslauer, takes viewers on an emotional journey as Grande’s character, Peaches, relives her life’s best and worst moments. According to Billboard, the film begins with an elderly Peaches returning to the Brighter Days memory-wiping center, first introduced in her We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love) music video.
This time, however, the clinic allows patients to relive their past memories before erasing them forever. As Peaches selects memories to revisit, she watches childhood moments with her family, iconic performances of Eternal Sunshine and Dandelion, and more personal, heartbreaking experiences.
The story takes a dramatic turn when she encounters an apocalyptic scene and is abducted by a UFO while singing Twilight Zone and Supernatural.
The film concludes with Peaches witnessing a memory of her father—played by Grande's real-life father, Ed Butera—stitching her back together, suggesting he is the founder of the Brighter Days center.
Brighter Days Ahead serves as an artistic extension of Eternal Sunshine, which debuted in March 2024 and topped the Billboard 200 chart for two weeks. The album’s hit singles, Yes, And? and We Can’t Be Friends, both reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The short film, heavily inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), follows the themes of love, loss, and memory explored in Grande’s music and previous visuals.
Grande teased the Brighter Days Ahead's release earlier in the year during her Wicked promotional tour. In a January 2025 Vanity Fair interview, she hinted:
"There's something I made last year that will come out eventually. It's an attachment of Eternal Sunshine."
She later referenced it again at the Golden Globes.
On Sunday, Brighter Days Ahead will be screened in select cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, and Chicago.
