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Brighter Days Ahead

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Brighter Days Ahead
Official poster
Directed by
Written by
  • Christian Breslauer
  • Ariana Grande
Based onEternal Sunshine
by Ariana Grande
Produced by
  • Micheal Breslauer
  • Andrew Lerios
StarringAriana Grande
CinematographyJeff Cronenweth
Edited byLuis Caraza
Music byAriana Grande
Production
companies
  • London Alley
  • The Lucky Bastards
Distributed byRepublic Records
Release date
  • March 28, 2025 (2025-03-28)
Running time
26 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Brighter Days Ahead is a 2025 American musical science fiction drama short film written and directed by Christian Breslauer and Ariana Grande, the latter in her directorial debut. It is an accompanying piece to Grande's seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine (2024) and its reissue, which shares the same subtitle as the film.[1][2][3][4]

Grande first teased a short film in an October 2024 Vanity Fair interview while promoting Wicked (2024).[5] She continued to tease the album's deluxe edition in various interviews and public appearances[6][7][8][9][10] before announcing it on March 10, 2025.[11] She teased the short film two days prior, on March 8, 2025[12] before announcing it via an Instagram post on March 12, 2025. In the teaser trailer she posted alongside the announcement, it was also revealed that Grande would be reprising her role as Peaches, a character she introduced in the music video for "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", with the short film being a sequel to that work.[1][4]

Plot

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Seventy years after the events of "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", Peaches sits in the waiting room of Brighter Days Inc. and signs an electronic consent form. A nurse takes her into a room that would allow her to relive four of her most valuable memories for the final time. She begins her journey by looking at old videos of her family that were captured during her childhood ("Intro (End of the World)").

Each of Peaches' remaining memories are immediately destroyed after they are relived. She continues with the second memory, which is focused on her career as a singer ("Eternal Sunshine" / "Dandelion"). In the third memory, Peaches wakes up in a destroyed and flooded home. She comes across two important items as she examines the damages: a teddy bear and a necklace ("Twilight Zone"). Peaches leaves her home to find that her entire neighborhood had been demolished. She walks directly towards a UFO and is abducted ("Supernatural").

The fourth and final memory is told from the perspective of Peaches' father, who founded Brighter Days. He is stricken with grief following the death of his daughter who was torn apart and finds himself reliving past memories of his own, such as the time when he gave her the aforementioned necklace. After collecting Peaches' heart in a London pub, and her brain in a pile of rubble, her father places the organs inside the body of a woman created in his daughter's image. It takes several attempts before he successfully brings her to life through music and electricity ("Hampstead"). The older Peaches is content with her session. In the final scene, a younger Peaches recalls a time when someone told her to live each day as if it were her last. An acoustic rendition of "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", recorded at Jungle City Studios, plays during the end credits.

Cast

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Grande reprises her role as Peaches from the Eternal Sunshine music videos. Grande also serves as co-director, co-writer and executive producer.
  • Ariana Grande as Peaches, an elderly and non-verbal woman who undergoes a memory restoration procedure. She was inspired by Clementine Kruczynski from Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).[13]
  • Edward Butera as Peaches' father, a mad scientist and founder of Brighter Days Inc.
  • Charlotte Sanchez as young Peaches
  • Rashawn Ross as the trumpet player
  • Allen Marsh as the hologram doctor
  • Jessica Jang as the hologram nurse
  • Trell Isaac as a hologram patient
  • Kimberly Kim as a hologram patient
  • Stewart Jewett as the doctor
  • Lauren DeShane as the nurse
  • Fida Varela as the exam room nurse
  • Brittany Carel as the exam room patient
  • Shane Antolak, R. Ray Barnes and Tiana Bes as waiting room extras
  • Veronica Mannion, Amanda Boe, Dylan Reece, Kais Boukthir, Skip Howland, Vivian Day, Lee John Gilligan, Josh Cruse, Sam Russell, Cassandra Rucker, Russell Fear, and Veronica Hart as tavern extras

Release and promotion

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Following the 97th Academy Awards, where Grande was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda in Wicked (2024), Grande changed the name of her second Instagram account, formerly known as @Sweetener, to @BrighterDays, the name of the fictional memory erasure clinic that appeared in the music video for "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)".[14] To mark the one year anniversary of the release of Eternal Sunshine, Grande unveiled a pre-save link for the deluxe edition and released a teaser trailer for the short film. In the teaser trailer, a box which contains various items seen in the "We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)" music video can be seen burning, before flickering to a shot of the items torn apart on the floor.[12]

Grande then officially announced the deluxe repackage of Eternal Sunshine, subtitled Brighter Days Ahead on March 10, 2025, for release on March 28, 2025.[11] Two days later on March 12, 2025, Grande announced the short film via an Instagram post in which she released another teaser trailer. In this teaser trailer, a voice can be heard saying "Welcome back, Peaches." before flickering to various shots of Grande.[4] The film’s poster was released via the @BrighterDays Instagram account.[15] On March 23, 2025, Grande announced limited screenings of the short film in four U.S. cities on March 30, 2025; her hometown, Boca Raton, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.[16] Grande released two more teasers on March 25 and March 27, 2025. In the former, a locket featuring a photo of a younger Grande is held in someones hand.[17] In the latter, it shows a futuristic-esque version of the Brighter Days clinic—as seen in the "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" music video—while zooming in on a woman in a wheelchair, a series of rapid shots take place in which we see an aged-version of Grande's hands, leading to believe Grande will portray an older version of her character, Peaches.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Singh, Surej (March 13, 2025). "Ariana Grande announces new short film 'Brighter Days Ahead'". NME. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  2. ^ "Ariana Grande Is Dropping a Short Film With the 'Eternal Sunshine' Deluxe Album". Yahoo News. March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  3. ^ Dailey, Hannah (March 12, 2025). "Ariana Grande Announces 'Brighter Days Ahead' Short Film for 'Eternal Sunshine' Deluxe". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Paul, Larisha (March 12, 2025). "Ariana Grande Looks Forward to 'Brighter Days Ahead' in Short-Film Trailer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  5. ^ Murphy, Chris (September 30, 2024). "'Wicked' Stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on Love, Defying Rumors, and Flying High". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  6. ^ Carter, Ashleigh (January 12, 2025). "Ariana Grande Says Deluxe Version of 'Eternal Sunshine' Will Be a Surprise Release". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  7. ^ "Ariana Grande teases an "attachment" to album Eternal Sunshine | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  8. ^ "Ariana Grande wows Oscars red carpet with sensational Glinda-inspired glamour, teases 'Eternal Sunshine' deluxe edition - The Economic Times". m.economictimes.com. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  9. ^ Garcia, Thania (July 10, 2024). "Ariana Grande Reveals Deluxe Issue of 'Eternal Sunshine' Is in the Works, Teases 'Mini Little' Tour". Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  10. ^ Zemler, Emily (January 6, 2025). "Ariana Grande Confirms Plans to Release Another Expansion of 'Eternal Sunshine'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Conteh, Mankaprr (March 10, 2025). "Ariana Grande Announces 'Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Iasimone, Ashley (March 9, 2025). "Ariana Grande Teases 'Eternal Sunshine' Deluxe Edition With Fiery Video Clip". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  13. ^ Kaufman, Gil (March 8, 2024). "Ariana Grande Gets Her Mind Wiped in Futuristic 'We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)' Video". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  14. ^ Pilley, Max (March 9, 2025). "Ariana Grande posts teaser for 'Eternal Sunshine' deluxe edition". NME. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  15. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  16. ^ Iasimone, Ashley (March 24, 2025). "Ariana Grande Announces 'Brighter Days Ahead' Short Film Screenings in Select Cities". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  17. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (March 21, 2025). "Ariana Grande reveals six new song titles for 'Eternal Sunshine' deluxe, shares dark 'Brighter Days Ahead' teaser". NME. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  18. ^ Dailey, Hannah (March 26, 2025). "Ariana Grande Ages Decades as 'Peaches' in New 'Brighter Days Ahead' Short Film Teaser: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
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