Okay we gotta talk about one of the lighter movie controversies of the summer: The lack of a kiss at the end Twisters. The movie stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing), Glen Powell, and Hamilton’s Anthony Ramos. I know there’s been some mixed reviews, but I personally loved it. Was Twisters better than the original? No! But it was a great summer blockbuster movie. It had everything: really smart, charming hot people who were constantly placed in danger that they continuously survived against all odds only to go forth and presumably make a difference.

At the end of their death-defying harrowing experience, the two beautiful, charismatic leads who exuded sexual tension from the first time they met…basically shook hands and called it a movie. The whole ending felt like it was something that was built up to and then just stopped, and that’s because it was! There *was* a kiss scene filmed at the end of the movie, but it was edited out to make the movie less cliché. The movie-goers of the Internet were divided about this. Glen was asked about the controversy during an interview with Screen Rant and according to him, the fact that there’s a discussion around the subject means that kiss or no kiss, everyone’s a winner. In fact, he’s just happy that people are so engaged. Says Glen:

I’m taking it very personally! I’m sure you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes, where I did get to kiss Daisy Edgar-Jones, which really is all that counts. [Laughs] We had a great time, and I’m really proud of the movie.

I really think that even that [backlash] shows that people care, which is really great. I just love how excited people have gotten about that movie, and Daisy and I send each other the TikToks and the gifs. There’s so much funny stuff coming out of it. It’s fun. That’s what summer movies are about. It creates this conversation and cultural moment, and people dress up and do the thing. It’s been really awesome.

So, kiss or no kiss, everybody’s a winner.

[From Screen Rant]

While earlier reporting said that the kiss was cut out thanks to a note from producer Steven Spielberg, Twisters director, Lee Isaac Chung has gone on record to explain that he cut the filmed kiss out of the movie because he “didn’t want to dismiss” Edgar-Jones’ strong female character arc. He’s also said that her and Powell’s characters had a “strong enough” bond to justify no smoochy kiss at the ending. I appreciate this thought. I do.

Look, y’all, I love cliche disaster movies like this. I will be super honest here because I am on #TeamKiss. It may be considered shallow but I like watching people mack it at the end of a disaster movie. Again, call me shallow, but I don’t care. I don’t watch those types of movies because they make me smarter. If you’re going to spend 90 minutes of a movie setting people up with sexual tension, then I’m a very simple creature that wants a payoff. Besides, the movie just ends so awkwardly! They filmed the scene and everything is leading up to it, and it just stops midway. “Meh,” says this Elder Millennial.

That said, the fact that social media has been having so much fun with this conversation, really is a win for production. They just better reward us with a little Hallmark-ending action at the intro/middle/conclusion of a Twister 3.

finally saw twisters and glen powell really gave the yearning romantic leading man performance of the year only for that anti-climatic unsatisfying no kiss ending. i was warned and i still wasn’t ready. we’re losing recipes!!!

— Kathleen Newman-Bremang (@KathleenNB) August 15, 2024

Imagine if they'd kept in that kiss. #Twisters #TwistersMovie https://t.co/rzteGXNFhA

— Rachel Sexton [The Movie Maiden] (@MovieMaiden) August 18, 2024

photos credit: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, IMAGO/Jeffery Mayer/RW/Mediapunch/Avalon, Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com