Ok, so remember how back in spring Phoebe Bridgers braved air travel during a pandemic and flew to Ireland to, um, spend time, with Paul Mescal? (The horny legends were spotted together in a local caff). Well, turns out there’s video evidence of this special trip… a music video for Punisher album track “Saviour Complex” directed by none other than Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Almost interchangeable according to Wikipedia’s “not to be confused with” disclaimer, the Phoebes are known to be fans of each other — as, of course, are PB and PM — so we can only imagine the levels of adorable awkward on set.
The music video, shot in black-and-white, depicts a weird moment in the life of an unnamed character who we’ll call Paul. We find him sitting, beaten and bruised, on a deserted beach where he discovers he’s being followed by a chihuahua. Yes, really. The dog (played by a rising talent known simply as “Charlotte”) follows him down a country road where Phoebe Bridgers drives past them in her tractor — a sentence we never expected to write. Posing as a hitchhiker, Paul goes all grand theft auto on a passerby to escape the canine only to find that the damn thing is right there in the passenger seat.
Checking into a hotel, Paul removes his fake wounds (scandal!) and learns to love the teleporting dog that Phoebe, now playing a room service worker with the nametag “woman”, delivers a meal for. Spoiler alert: it all transpires that Phoebe and the chihuahua are working together to steal Paul’s money, car and the valuables of their many other victims. There’s an iconic shot of the vampire cape-wearing criminal duo at the end that may well intentionally mirror those Normal People beach scenes. The whole thing is really weird and you’re going to love it.
Watch the video here and tune in to The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday 2 December to watch four-time Grammy-nominated artist Phoebe with a special performance of “Saviour Complex” shot at LA’s nerd heaven Magic Castle.