"Never Goin' Back" directed by Augustine Frizzell Allow yourself to enjoy life [Director's Interview Vol.270]

There's no need to explain anything anymore, as A24, the most popular production company right now, has finally released this incredibly bright teen movie. "Never Goin' Back", which was released in North America in 2018 with A24 distribution, will finally be released in Japan after about four years.

Angela and Jesse are best friends who live in Garland, Texas. He dropped out of high school and worked part-time at a diner while living together. One day, to celebrate Jesse's birthday, Angela gives Jesse a trip to the resort beach of his dreams. However, due to the expenses, the rent is insufficient, and for some reason, a robber suddenly shows up at their home, the police discover the drugs, and the two are arrested. Will Angela and Jesse be able to reach the beach safely?

This is an autobiographical film by director Augustine Frizzell. Although the director has lived through a difficult past, this movie is bright, pop, humorous, and energetic, as if to encourage his past self. We heard plenty of behind-the-scenes stories about the production of this film, which was his feature-length debut.

Index

• Making one's own life into a youth movie
• Making a teen drug/crime comedy
• Arrival as a filmmaker

Making one's own life into a youth movie

Q: This is an autobiographical film by the director, but how much of the incidents and characters in the film are true?

Frizzell: A lot of it is based on fact. The idea for the movie was born from a real-life incident that occurs at the beginning of the movie, where a family's television was stolen. At the time, my best friend and I were living together with my best friend's brother and his friend named Brandon. Brandon died in the end, so we had to change that, but other than that it's the same. My best friend's brother tried to do a drug deal with a friend of his, but it failed, and it was assumed that the two of them had stolen the money, so a robber came at 7am. It wasn't like the actual dealer lived in our house.

In fact, we were best friends, we both wanted to go to the beach, we wanted to get out of Garland, and we worked at a diner. So, the content of the movie mostly remains true. However, I have never used a bucket as a toilet or vomited like in the movie (lol).

"Never Goin' Back/Never Goin' Back" ©2018Muffed Up LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Q: Are there any romantic feelings between Angela and Jesse? I don't have a specific expression, but I guess it's because I didn't want to emphasize the lesbian setting.

Frizzell: That was a big problem. Because she and I were best friends and obviously lovers as well. However, at that time, the relationship between them was not made clear. It was difficult for us to decide on a relationship because we were open about our sexuality and had dated other people. We are both bisexual, and I have had many relationships with women. I ended up marrying a man, so it feels strange to talk about this now...

I'm not a big fan of identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, but I'm proud and happy about that aspect of myself. So I wasn't trying to hide their sexual relationship, but that wasn't the theme of the movie. It takes a lot of time to draw it properly, so I thought about it carefully, and if I were to draw it, I didn't want it to be seen as unnecessary. I went through a lot of trial and error during the editing stage, but in the end I felt it was unnecessary, so I decided to cut it. I'm a supporter of gay rights, so I don't know if it was the right decision. However, I didn't want it to be superfluous.

Q: Youth movies often include scenes where the main characters fight or where the friendship between two people is tested. Why didn't you draw such a scene?

Frizzell: That was intentional. I don't like those scenes, and I don't like the fake conflicts added just to spice up the drama. Moreover, in my experience, even though I sometimes get into arguments with my female friends, I have never had a big fight. There were no angry outbursts or outbursts at all. So in this case, I wanted the conflict to be outside the two of them. I wanted my life to depend on the two of them instead of them fighting. In reality, I felt like the only place I was safe was being with my best friend and my girlfriend, and that danger was coming from outside. So, I decided to express it that way in the movie as well.

Making a teen drug/crime comedy