So, if you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ve probably seen Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega hacking each other to bits in a mansion. It’s glorious. It’s gory. Honestly, it’s the most fun anyone has had with a chainsaw in years. But while some people were just shocked by the blood, the real ones immediately saw the vision: Sabrina Carpenter Death Becomes Her vibes are all over the place.
If you haven’t seen the 1992 cult classic Death Becomes Her, you’re basically missing the blueprint for this entire video. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, that movie stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as two frenemies who drink a magic potion to stay young forever. The catch? They can’t actually die, even when they’re shot, pushed down stairs, or—literally—have a hole blasted through their stomach.
Sabrina didn't just borrow the aesthetic; she practically inhaled the soul of the film.
The Iconic Stomach Hole and That Balcony Fall
One of the biggest "wait, what?" moments in the "Taste" video happens right at the start. Jenna Ortega’s character decides she’s had enough of Sabrina hanging around her boyfriend and shoots her off a balcony. Sabrina lands on a white picket fence, and for a second, you think, okay, well, she’s dead. Nope.
In a direct nod to the Sabrina Carpenter Death Becomes Her inspiration, she just gets back up. Later, we see her with a massive, gaping hole right through her midsection. This is a beat-for-beat reference to Goldie Hawn’s character, Helen Sharp, who famously spends a good portion of the movie walking around with a giant circular gap in her torso after Meryl Streep shoots her with a shotgun.
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It’s camp. It’s ridiculous. It perfectly captures that "I’m too petty to die" energy that Sabrina has been leaning into for the Short n' Sweet era.
Why Jenna Ortega Was the Only Choice
You can't do a horror-comedy homage without a scream queen. Jenna Ortega, who has basically become the face of modern spooky vibes thanks to Wednesday and Scream, plays the Goldie Hawn to Sabrina’s Meryl Streep.
The chemistry works because they aren't just fighting; they’re performing a ritual. There’s a scene where Jenna uses a voodoo doll to snap Sabrina’s limbs, and Sabrina just sort of... deals with it. It mirrors the way Madeline (Meryl) and Helen (Goldie) eventually realize that since they can’t kill each other, they might as well be friends.
More Than Just a Single Movie Reference
While the Sabrina Carpenter Death Becomes Her connection is the backbone of the "Taste" music video, director Dave Meyers stuffed this thing with enough Easter eggs to make a cinephile dizzy. Honestly, it's like a love letter to the 90s slasher-comedy genre.
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- Kill Bill: When Jenna shows up in a nurse outfit with a white eye patch, she is 100% Elle Driver. It’s iconic.
- Psycho: We get the classic shower scene, but with a twist. Instead of the victim being a helpless woman, it’s a chaotic battle where arms get hacked off.
- Ginger Snaps: The impalement on the fence? That’s a deep-cut reference to the 2000 Canadian werewolf cult classic.
- Addams Family Values: Sabrina’s funeral outfit at the end, with the veil and the "widow who definitely killed her husband" energy, is pure Debbie Jellinsky.
Basically, the video is a chaotic blender of every movie where a woman decides she’s done with the "final girl" trope and decides to be the villain instead.
The Ending: "You Kill Me"
The most Sabrina Carpenter Death Becomes Her thing about the whole video is the ending. After accidentally killing the guy they were fighting over (played by Rohan Campbell from Halloween Ends), Sabrina and Jenna don't cry. They don't even seem that bothered.
They show up to his funeral in matching black dresses, drinking coffee—or maybe it's Espresso, who knows—and bonding over how "insecure" and "clingy" he was. It’s almost a perfect recreation of the final scene in Death Becomes Her where Madeline and Helen are at a party, falling apart physically but still bickering and being each other’s only true companions.
It flips the script on the "pick me" narrative. Instead of the women destroying each other for a man, the man becomes the collateral damage while the women realize they’re the only ones on each other's level.
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How to Get the Look (Without the Gore)
If you're obsessed with the style, you aren't alone. The fashion in the video is doing a lot of heavy lifting. To channel the vibes:
- Think High-Contrast Glam: Sabrina’s look is all about blonde bombshell energy mixed with 90s vintage silhouettes.
- The Funeral Chic: If you want to pull off the Death Becomes Her funeral look, look for vintage lace, structured fascinators, and a "my husband died under mysterious circumstances" attitude.
- Red Lips, Blue Eyes: The makeup stays perfectly intact even when she's being set on fire. It’s that indestructible glam that defined the 92 film.
The takeaway here? Sabrina Carpenter isn't just making pop music; she's building a cinematic universe. By leaning into the Sabrina Carpenter Death Becomes Her aesthetic, she’s signaling that she knows her history and she knows exactly how to make camp cool for a new generation.
If you want to fully appreciate the "Taste" video, go back and watch the original movie. You’ll see the "bent neck" scene, the staircase tumble, and the realization that sometimes, the person you're trying to kill is the only one who actually understands you.
Next Steps for the Obsessed: Watch Death Becomes Her on a streaming platform like Prime Video or Apple TV to see the side-by-side comparisons yourself. Then, re-watch "Taste" and look for the specific way Sabrina mimics Meryl Streep’s facial expressions during the more violent scenes—it’s an acting masterclass in three minutes.