Winona Ryder in A$AP Rocky’s video is the pop culture dose I needed in January

There are moments in pop culture that make me pause, look away from the screen, and think: ok, this is why I still love the internet. Winona Ryder in A$AP Rocky’s video is one of those moments. Slightly absurd, yet so logical that we collectively have to ask ourselves a serious question at a time when presidents of South American countries are being overthrown: how did this not happen earlier?

Not because Winona needs a new context or renewed relevance, but because, as any true fan would conclude, Winona has always genuinely belonged to that space between the mainstream and complete anarchy. In this case, between garage chaos, 90s references, and people doing things simply because they find them fun, without any “adult” agenda. And that is why her ten or so seconds in Rocky’s new video feel to me like a small pop culture blessing at the start of the year.

Punk Rocky as the first single from the new album

So what is this musical “apparition” of Winona that Rocky has treated us to in the video for the symbolically titled song Punk Rocky about? Completely unexpected yet completely perfect, Winona Ryder appears as the neighbor. And not just any neighbor, but that 90s neighbor who no longer exists, the one who shows up with a pie.

The visual is pure chaos in the best possible way. Rocky plays in a garage band, makes noise, and annoys the quiet neighborhood. And then, for about ten glorious seconds, Winona enters. First we see her lying on a deck chair, then she comes out of the house with a pie in her hands, and finally, of course, she joins the mosh pit in the garage. Ten seconds, but ten seconds of happiness. For me, as a childhood fan of Winona in Edward Scissorhands and an adult fan of Winona in Stranger Things. Who would not love someone who has always been a little off, a little her own?

Related: Everyone is talking about the secret ninth episode of Stranger Things

And now we come to the outfit. Because of course we do. Winona is wearing a pink silk house robe, a T-shirt with a Beavis & Butt-Head print, a pencil skirt, pink tights, and red gloves. She looks like someone forever stuck between the 90s, domestic comfort, and complete indifference. The perfect counterpoint to Rocky’s pink hair rollers. Perfect aesthetic chaos. In short, it is a good time to be a Winona Ryder fan. We have only just said goodbye to the final season of Stranger Things, and now we are watching her crash into a punk rap video, wear a house robe, and mosh with kids in a garage. As if it were 1994, 2004, and 2026 all at the same time.

By the way, Rocky’s new single is the first teaser for the album Don’t Be Dumb, which is coming out on January 16. Bonus points for the fact that the cover was done by Tim Burton, Winona’s longtime collaborator. The circle had to close, of course. I have no objection to 2026 being the year of more unexpected Winona moments like this. We clearly missed her.