Olivia Rodrigo is the poster child for chic road rage in the new “brutal” music video, which sees the emotionally turbulent teenager—who famously can't parallel park—sitting atop a convertible in the
middle of a Los Angeles-worthy multi-car pileup. In perhaps the video's most meme-able moment, she whips around to stare at the honking drivers behind her and mouths a pristine "What the fuck?"
Directed by Canadian artist Petra Collins—known for packaging her work in youthful pastels—“brutal” is stuffed with enough Y2K nostalgia that it practically operates as a summoning circle for the return of Tamagotchi and Lisa Frank. In true Choose Your Fighter style, the “good 4 u” singer hops between looks throughout the nearly three-minute-long clip: Fishnets and a ballerina leotard, a TV broadcaster's neon pink pantsuit, a silver bodycon fit à la Zenon, and a plaid schoolgirl skirt (complete with pigtails and flower barrettes) rank as favorites.
Predictably, Twitter welcomed this energy.
OLIVIA RODRIGO MOUTHING WHAT THE FUCK IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER pic.twitter.com/E47OwMAhYx
— ?cher (@good4pov) August 23, 2021
no thoughts. just olivia rodrigo in the brutal music video pic.twitter.com/Z1a7t2DPNG
— meghna¹³?// lover day? (@goddamndorothea) August 23, 2021
Olivia Rodrigo's new "Brutal" video has me convinced we are mere months away from a Limited Too revival.
— Alyssa Vingan (@alyssavingan) August 23, 2021
ITS AMAZING LOVE IT AND YOU SM pic.twitter.com/r2qIa2Wuq2
— liz ☾ LOVER DAY (@wednesdaycxfe) August 23, 2021
The video effortlessly fuses Rodrigo's signature playfulness with the desperation of adolescence—which is why that catchy, ominous guitar thrum serves as the video's grounding force. It's a fun jaunt along some of teenagedom's most nauseating moments, a line Rodrigo walks with precision and flair in her debut album Sour.
“I write about what I know and what I am feeling intensely," the 18-year-old recently told Variety. "The album is about heartbreak, but I think all the songs are sort of a different aspect of heartbreak. There’s plenty of emotions that come along with something like that: anger, spite, sadness, jealousy, longing."
Watch the full video for "brutal" below.