On August 29, 2025, Sabrina Carpenter released “Tears”—the second single from her seventh studio album Man’s Best Friend—alongside its official music video. The song, a slick fusion of pop and disco-pop brimming with ’70s flair, finds Carpenter reveling in the unexpected sensuality of a man’s respectful behavior. Set to a catchy chorus (“I get wet at the thought of you / Being a responsible guy…”), the track hits cheeky and confident notes alike.
Visual Inspiration: Rocky Horror, Camp, and Spectacle
Directed by Bardia Zeinali, the video transports viewers into a cinematic fever dream influenced heavily by The Rocky Horror Picture Show and gothic soap-operatics.
The narrative opens with Carpenter emerging from a car crash in a foggy field, dressed in a pale blue skirt suit and wide-brimmed hat, wandering toward a hauntingly abandoned house. A title card appears in blood-red lettering—complete with a droplet in the “A”—setting a chilling, theatrical tone.
Inside the house, Carpenter encounters Colman Domingo in full drag—a flamboyant nod to the iconic Frank-N-Furter. Domingo’s look spans pinstripe suits, corsets, beehive wigs, and bold red lipstick—visually thrilling and delightfully subversive.
Costume, Choreography, and Cinematic Flair
The video unfolds with genre-blending scenes: Carpenter is stripped (by hands emerging from the walls!) into Victoria’s Secret–inspired lingerie—a metallic fringe set previously modeled by Naomi Campbell—complete with stockings, suspenders, mirrorball ruffles, and silver heels. She pole-dances in a cornfield, struts in heels, and shares dynamic choreography with Domingo amid drag performers and surreal backdrops.
Multiple Endings & Fanservice
True to her theatrical flair, Carpenter released multiple alternate endings to the video shortly after launch. The original finale sees her hurling a stiletto into her “resurrected” boyfriend, killing him and quipping, “Someone has to die in every video … You have to give the people what they want.” Subsequent versions ranged from the boyfriend being crushed by a falling tree or piano to Carpenter walking away, leaving him behind in red lingerie—respectively darkly comedic or theatrically sardonic.
