Summary

• Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” music video is filled with iconic movie references to films like
  Psycho
  and
  Ginger Snaps
  .
• The video pays homage to cult classics like
  Death Becomes Her
  and
  Jennifer’s Body
  , recreating memorable scenes in a darkly humorous way.
• Featuring actors like Rohan Campbell and Jenna Ortega, “Taste” weaves together a dark story with Easter eggs from Sabrina Carpenter’s past music videos.

Although it’s short and sweet, Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Taste” music video is packed with iconic movie references. This summer, the former Disney Channel actor and Girl Meets World star became a household name thanks to her chart-topping “Espresso” — an undeniable and immensely catchy song of the summer. The whimsical earworm is now certified platinum and, despite being released just a few months ago, Carpenter’s signature tune. While “Espresso” was accompanied by its own music video, there’s no denying that the visuals for “Taste” take things to the next level, especially because of the video’s Easter eggs and movie references.

In between “Espresso” and “Taste,” Sabrina Carpenter released her Jack Antonoff-produced hit “Please Please Please.” That song’s music video, which co-stars Carpenter’s then-real-life boyfriend Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), serves as a sequel to “Espresso,” focusing on Carpenter’s romance with a criminal (Keoghan) who could ruin her reputation. While “Please Please Please” director Bardia Zeinali took inspiration from movies like Natural Born Killers and Thelma & Louise (via Yahoo), “Taste” is much more direct with its movie nods. Directed by Dave Meyers, “Taste” stars Carpenter alongside Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, X) and Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys).

8 Ginger Snaps

Sabrina Carpenter Remakes The Cult Classic’s Most Iconic Scene

Although Sabrina Carpenter doesn’t cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine, the “Taste” music video allows the pop star to reference various cult classic films, including Ginger Snaps. Directed by John Fawcett (Orphan Black), the supernatural horror film stars Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle as Brigitte and Ginger Fitzgerald. The morbid sisters find their relationship pushed to the limits after Ginger is bitten by an unknown animal, prompting her transformation into a lycanthrope. One of the cult classic’s more memorable scenes involves a character being impaled by a white picket fence.

Ortega fires a shotgun at Carpenter, causing the singer to fall off a balcony and onto the white picket fence below.

In the “Taste” music video, Sabrina Carpenter breaks into Jenna Ortega’s house to kill her while she’s sleeping — ostensibly in the hopes of winning back Campbell’s “beloved boyfriend.” Ortega wakes up just in time, prompting a scuffle between the two. Ultimately, Ortega fires a shotgun at Carpenter, causing the singer to fall off a balcony and onto the white picket fence below. While Ortega smiles down at Carpenter, the pop star gives her would-be killer the middle finger, making the scene a perfect Ginger Snaps homage.

7 Death Becomes Her

Meryl Streep & Goldie Hawn’s Campy Classic Serves As A Road Map For Taste’s Story

Without a doubt, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn’s cult classic dark comedy Death Becomes Her serves as the road map for the “Taste” music video’s storyline. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future), Death Becomes Her centers on two women, Madeline Ashton (Streep) and Helen Sharp (Hawn), who are fighting for the affections of Dr. Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis). Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini) plays a mysterious socialite who, despite being over 70 years old, looks decades younger. It becomes clear that Lisle has let Helen in on her secret to rejuvenation.

Carpenter sports a gory hole in her torso, much like Hawn’s character…

Eager to restore her own withering beauty, Madeline asks Lisle for the same eternal life-granting potion. Bestowed with their supernatural gifts, the two women wage vengeful and violent war on each other. The “Taste” music video might not lean into the whole immortality plot point, but it does pit Carpenter and Ortega against each other in darkly funny ways. In one scene, Carpenter sports a gory hole in her torso, much like Hawn’s character, and, at the end of the video, the two stars replicate Streep and Hawn’s all-black looks from an iconic moment in Death Becomes Her.

6 Kill Bill

Jenna Ortega Dresses Like Daryl Hannah’s Iconic Kill Bill Character

In Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies, Daryl Hannah plays Elle Driver, a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Notably, the deadly Elle is missing her right eye, which leads to the character’s iconic eyepatch-wearing look. Although Hannah’s Elle is one of the Kill Bill movies’ most memorable performances, there’s one Elle Driver costume (and sequence) that’s a particular point of reference in “Taste.” At one point, Elle wears a nurse outfit and tries to poison The Bride (Uma Thurman) with a syringe. In “Taste,” Ortega wears the same costume, including the eyepatch, and attacks Carpenter with defibrillator paddles.

5 Psycho

Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste Recreates Alfred Hitchcock’s Iconic Shower Scene

One of the most obvious movie references embedded in “Taste” is a nod to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. One of Hitchcock’s most influential movies, Psycho tells the story of a chance encounter between Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a woman on the run, and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a motel owner with a dark secret. In one of the horror film’s most memorable scenes, Marion is attacked while in the shower, resulting in the ultimate scream queen moment. “Taste” recreates this sequence, with a knife-wielding Carpenter sneaking up on Ortega and Campbell, the video’s scream queen, while they’re in the shower.

4 Addams Family Values

Joan Cusack Gets A Visual Shoutout In Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste Music Video

The Addams Family Values nod in the “Taste” music video is more of an Easter egg than a full-on reference or recreation. In the film, which is the sequel to 1991’s The Addams Family, the parents of the titular brood hire a nanny, Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack). Secretly a serial killer, Debbie is a bit of an eccentric herself. She even convinces Morticia (Anjelica Huston) and Gomez (Raul Julia) to send a suspicious Wednesday (Christina Ricci) off to summer camp. In one scene, Debbie sports a white ballgown and a boa, which Carpenter pays homage to in her video.

The homage to Wednesday Addams’ nemesis has a little extra meaning since Jenna Ortega plays the character in Netflix’s
Wednesday
.

3 Jennifer’s Body

Taste References Megan Fox & Amanda Seyfried’s Cult Classic

Written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Juno) and directed by Karyn Kusama (Yellowjackets), Jennifer’s Body is the definition of a cult classic film. In the movie, Jennifer (Megan Fox), goes on a killing spree, devouring the flesh of her male classmates after being possessed by a demon. Jennifer’s best friend, Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried), tries to thwart the succubus’ efforts. In one scene, Jennifer and Needy unexpectedly kiss, cementing Jennifer’s Body as a queer cult classic. Similarly, Carpenter and Ortega briefly kiss in “Taste,” prompting Ortega to chainsaw Carpenter and push her into a pool.

An abandoned pool is the setting for
Jennifer’s Body
‘s climactic ending.

2 Halloween Ends

Rohan Campbell Plays The Boyfriend In Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste Music Video

Another Easter egg comes in the form of the decision to cast Rohan Campbell in this bloody, darkly comic romp. Aside from his stint on The Hardy Boys, Campbell is most well-known for playing Corey Cunningham in Halloween Ends, the third film in the Jamie Lee Curtis-starring Halloween sequel trilogy. Diverging from the iconic slasher franchise’s use of Campbell, Carpenter’s music video casts the actor as a victim who’s caught up in the violent cat-and-mouse game unfolding between Carpenter and Ortega’s characters.

1 Please Please Please

Taste Features An Easter Egg From Sabrina Carpenter’s Music Video With Barry Keoghan

Finally, Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Taste” references another one of the singer’s music videos — “Please Please Please.” As mentioned, “Please Please Please” includes its own list of film references and, notably, co-stars actor Barry Keoghan as a criminal that Carpenter’s character falls in love with. At one point, Keoghan wears lipstick-marked tape over his mouth. The same prop can be seen in the opening shot of “Taste,” but instead of covering Keoghan’s mouth, the tape covers a teddy bear’s face.

Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Taste” is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.