An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Grant Singer, who also filmed the visual for the album's lead single "Green Light", and premiered on Lorde's Vevo account on 3 August 2017.

"[2] On the track's release date, Lorde revealed that riding on the Brooklyn Bridge during the summer and sitting on the Uptown Manhattan subway in the heat, coupled with frequent flights to her residence in New Zealand, prompted her to write the song.

[4] Sarah Grant of Rolling Stone wrote that the verse structures are "punctuated with throbbing syncopation, giving the song a dark, R&B sensibility.

[7] The last lyric she annotated was "Now I can't stand to be alone" which Lorde says she wrote after realizing the main reason for her partying habits was "dreading sitting at home" by herself hearing her thoughts "hit the walls.

Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork awarded it "Best New Track", writing that the song "slides in on a spacious, charcoal beat à la Pure Heroine's 'Team,' but reality has grown crueler since then."

"[10] Winston Cook-Wilson of Spin compared the lyrics' setting to "Green Light" and added that the song had "a charm [in its] imperfectness," in that Lorde does not know where she is headed.

Sharing similar sentiments, Mike Schiller said the song "doesn't quite land the way it feels like it should," but asserts the singer "remains fascinating and impossible to simply ignore.

"[12] Noisey editor Phil Witmer called it a "triumphant closer" to the album and felt the chorus is like the refrain of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" (1968) except it "actually slaps.

[14] The Guardian critic placed the track on its Sounds like Summer list, likening the chorus to Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" (2014), but commending the recording for retaining "Lorde’s singular melancholia.

A scene where Lorde holds a lightbulb as a microphone in a dark-lit room interpolates Paramore's "Ignorance" (2009) video, while another shot with her nearly submerging her body in a small pond was compared to the group's visual for "Monster" (2011).

[26] The next scene shows Lorde, in an embellished red dress, a headpiece, and a black fishnet veil,[22] alone in a restaurant filled with empty champagne glasses and an array of plants and flowers around her.

[22] Lorde appears alone in a boat, wearing a yellow Shrimpton Couture caftan dress and a hat as it floats off in the distance;[28] critics compared this scene to paintings by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

"[32] Uproxx editor Derrick Rossignol expressed that the video was "beautiful", noting that the "dynamic and anthemic pop track" perfectly scores the moments of "diverse aesthetic wonder in a way that both the song and visual deserve.

[28] Melissa Minton from W magazine noted that the singer marked a transition from her darker fashion clothing and dark lips to a "more refined, sexy, glam look that's a bit more tame but just as witchy (and bewitching).

"[36] Vogue editor Daise Bodella noted that Lorde's decision to "spotlight young, rising designers certainly points the star in a more fashion-forward direction."

She was dressed in "an oversized white suit" with a halo of flowers taped to her back; critics compared it to the outfit worn by David Byrne in Talking Heads' 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense.

[38] Rolling Stone editor Ryan Reed praised Lorde's band for "nailing the song from the verse's stark piano to the chorus' 3-D blast of synth and arena-sized drum.

Lorde opted to perform a stripped-down version of the track and then dance liberally, which Rolling Stone's Elias Leight said added a "forlorn sensibility to the song, complimenting the lyrics in a literal way".

[42] Spin writer Anna Gaca called it a "great rendition", noting the "choir of young people wearing matching monogrammed Melodrama tracksuits" in the background, which helped elevate the song.