Looking for a house cleaner? Look no further than the pretty girl cleanup crew featured in Sabrina Carpenter‘s new music video for “House Tour.”
Co-directed by Carpenter and Margaret Qualley. Starring alongside Madelyn Cline, the video shows the trio pulling up to a lavish Los Angeles mansion in a pink van advertising them as the pretty girl cleanup crew. What follows is not so much a music video but a pitch for a short film. It’s a Bling Ring-style heist, featuring a tarantula, a katana duel, and a Grammy that goes missing alongside a man who should have looked both ways before crossing the street. It is the third single from Man’s Best Friend to get a music video, and it does exactly what every Carpenter music video does. Which rewards those who are keen watchers and confuses those who are more casual.
SCU (Sabrina Cinematic Universe)
Carpenter has created her own cinematic universe in which we can see connecting dots between each music video. And if you are a casual viewer, you may not see them. The music video opens with her swapping out a pair of heels. They happen to be the same heels she was wearing at the end of the “Tears” music video, after using them to kill her companion at the end of the music video. It is a direct callback to the ending of the last video. Noting that she is done with that chapter and moving on to the next wild adventure, or in this case, crime scene.
This isn’t the first time that she has called back to previous videos, as in the “Taste” video, it had a teddy bear wearing the same kiss-marked duct tape that Barry Keoghan sported at the end of “Please Please Please.” She really wants you to take notice. She is rewarding those who pay attention, and we all chuckle at those who just think it’s a catchy song.
For the Girls
There are some people out there who think Carpenter is just out there for the male gaze specifically. But it’s very clear that she has left room and made content for women. In “Taste,” Carpenter and Ortega played rivals fighting over a man. Whom they end up ditching entirely before walking off together with milkshakes, marking a peak in female friendship. In “Tears,” Carpenter brought in Colman Domingo as a doctor, a Frank-N-Furter-inspired character. He delivered a sultry, satirical celebration of womanhood and LGBTQ+ culture that very clearly projected the slogan “Protect the Dolls.”
Finally, in “House Tour,” it’s taken somewhere new. It explodes with the proverbial male fantasy of literal sword fighting, bubble baths, and bed hopping. It’s something stereotypical that casual viewers might assume is for men. But really, it’s making fun of what they think happens when girls get together. It’s three women in a mansion they definitely don’t own, just doing what they want. It’s kinky, playful, androgynous, and very on purpose. The male fantasy is just the set for what is taking place, which is robbing.
There Is Always One
Carpenter has a style for dispatching men across her music videos for two full eras and continually gets creative about it. It can be a man who accidentally gets sliced in half at his own funeral. Or in her last music video. A presumed-dead boyfriend crawls back to life only for her to get the job done. She notes, “He was a nice one too, but you have to give the people what they want.” “House Tour” continues this streak. When Qualley and Carpenter drive off in the van, they hit a man crossing the street. Qualley simply looks at Carpenter and shrugs it off as they continue driving into the night.
Film Buff Carpenter
Finally, we can see that Carpenter is deeply committed to a cinematic reference. “Taste” was a Death Becomes Her-inspired bloodbath, channeling the 1992 Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn dark comedy, in which two unkillable women have one shared lover, and increasingly ridiculous acts of violence ensue, ending where the girls simply go off together and leave the man behind. “Tears” took a full plunge into the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Carpenter as the Janet-coated character who wanders into a strange house and slowly sheds every one of her inhibitions.
“House Tour” turns to Sofia Coppola for its inspiration. The visual is a Bling Ring-style raid of the property. The three women helping themselves to cash, lingerie, guns, and a Grammy, alongside what appears to be the Mona Lisa, just in a random mansion. Coppola’s film was a commentary on celebrity entitlement. While Carpenter’s version is just three women having the best time of their lives in a house they will never be asked to clean.
Another Hit
Overall, “House Tour” was another hit for Carpenter. The music video was something we could rewatch again and again. We really can’t see what is next visually for Carpenter. We can only guess what films she will take inspiration from next, but we know it’ll be campy, for the girls, and a cinematic masterpiece.
