Ahead of the premiere of her documentary, Miss Americana, Taylor Swift gave fans a two minute sneak peek at the movie on Jan. 22. The trailer begins by telling the story of Taylor’s troubled 2016, followed by her slow and steady return to the spotlight. Fans will finally get to see what Taylor was going through when she “disappeared for a year” as she dealt with the fallout of her breakups from Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston, as well as her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Of course, most of that time was spent with boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.
“I had to deconstruct an entire belief system, toss it out and reject it,” Taylor says in the trailer. “It woke me up from constantly feeling like I was fighting for people’s respect. It was happiness without anyone else’s input.” At that point in the preview, Taylor can be seen running off the stage of her Reputation tour and into the arms of Joe. Taylor and Joe kept their relationship a complete secret for the first seven months they were together (at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017). Since then, they’ve made a point to be very private about their romance, and have only been photographed together on a handful of occasions over the last three years. So, it’s a pretty big deal to see Joe pop up in the documentary!
The doc will also document Taylor’s decision to be vocal about politics after staying silent for years. “I want to do this,” she says in the clip. “I want to be on the right side of history.” Footage also shows her sitting beside her mom, Andrea Swift, and publicist, Tree Paine, as she nervously shares an Instagram post that reveals her political stance.
“I feel really good about not feeling muzzled anymore,” Taylor admits. “And it was my own doing.” She also adds, in a voiceover, “There’s nothing that feels better than this moment.” Throughout the trailer, clips are shown of Taylor performing, working in the studio, and just enjoying alone time in nature. Miss Americana will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and debut on Netflix on Jan. 31.