Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” Video: Watch The High-Concept Love Story

Justin Timberlake premiered his “Mirrors” video tonight (March 19) on The CW as part of his televised special celebrating the release of The 20/20 Experience (hosted by Ryan Seacrest, who else?). The full-length album cut gets a sumptuous full-length video, and it’s an artsy, wistful, time-traveling epic centered around an adorable elderly couple — modeled, evidently, on Timberlake’s grandparents (William and Sadie, who receive a dedication at the outset of the clip). Check out the touching clip — directed by Floria Sigismondi (Katy Perry‘s “The One That Got Away”, The Runaways movie) up top, and study its subtle references to Timberlake’s real life below.

The video begins with the elderly pair moving in sync, like reflections in a mirror, as the woman reminisces about their courtship and arguments back when they were much younger. I haven’t seen the movie Amour, but I have seen the trailer, and it’s definitely giving me a similar vibe.

Timberlake himself isn’t even in the video until the “You are / You are / The love of my life” breakdown for the song’s second half, when he catches the elderly couple’s wedding ring, and winds up working out some twitchy dance moves in a hall of mirrors. The passing of the ring, MTV suggests, is a nod to the events surrounding Timberlake’s real-life wedding to Jessica Biel last year — his grandfather William was in poor health and was unable to attend. JT, the video signals, is ready to carry on.

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