
HIGH NOON
Six months after a breakup, Jess prepares to meet up with her ex for one last fight.
One day last year Carrie called me to discuss, if I remember her words correctly, “the first idea I have ever had in my entire life.” She explained the idea, which was roughly inspired by Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy, basically the exact same way she would go on to explain it in the film.
When I heard it I knew two things 1. The ending (which I guess I shouldn’t spoil) and 2. That we were going to make a film about missing someone who hurt you, and how that is its own special kind of hurt, separate from whatever originally happened between the two of you. As someone who has only ever written by themselves, the way Carrie got at that idea - which is universal but hard to talk about - so cleanly and so directly felt like a miracle.
What I didn’t know, though, was that writing the script together - my first time writing with a partner and Carrie’s first time writing a script ever - would allow me to make something that actually feels more personal and more free than anything I’ve done on my own. I was able to go further knowing Carrie would catch me if I went too far.
The result is a funny, stylish (in my opinion anyway), sad film that I’m immensely proud of.