Synopsis

A lone man runs down a deserted road at night while an unseen driver follows close behind. Thom Yorke sits in the back seat, watching the pursuit unfold with an unsettling calm. When the exhausted runner collapses, the car reverses and reveals a trail of leaking fuel. He strikes a match, sending flames racing toward the vehicle. The car erupts, but Yorke has mysteriously vanished, leaving the pursuer consumed by the same violence it seemed to control.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video's central idea was originally developed for Marilyn Manson's "Long Hard Road Out of Hell," but Manson rejected it. Radiohead's video commissioner later suggested the unused concept to the band.

• The running man was played by Hungarian actor Lajos Kovacs. He developed severe cramps during the repeated running takes and required injections to continue filming.

• Kovacs also burned his thumb while repeatedly lighting the match behind his back for the climactic shot.

• The video won Best Direction at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

• The video's spare, single-perspective approach was deliberately designed to make the story feel hypnotic and cinematic rather than explain everything directly.

• Years later, the filmmaker described the result as a failed attempt to achieve the hypnotic effect he wanted. He considered the later UNKLE video "Rabbit in Your Headlights," which also featured Thom Yorke, a more successful companion piece.