This story includes spoilers about the Max original “Sweethearts.”
First-time director Jordan Weiss and partner Dan Brier wanted to write a coming-of-age comedy based on their own male-female friendship.
The two best friends first met at a young writers group, but “Sweethearts,” their Max original movie, is the first project the two have actually written together.
“It grew out of a road trip that we went on in 2019, where we were just driving across the country,” Brier said. “Because we met fresh out of college, there were a lot of stories and people and worlds that we didn’t know about each other’s past.”
From there, the characters and the world of “Sweethearts” was born. Weiss told TheWrap that Jamie and her lack of female friendships was a lot like herself as a freshman in college, and Brier said that the leads’ relationship mirrors much of his own relationship with his college female best friend.
With a little push from her writing partner and the producers, Weiss then attached to make her directorial debut with the romantic comedy.
“I couldn’t think of a better project to direct for the first time than one that I wrote with my best friend,” the “Dollface” creator said. “That’s my recommendation to all first time filmmakers: have your best friend on set with you the whole time.”
“Sweethearts” follows longtime best friends and freshmen in college, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (Nico Hiraga), as they plan to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break. Chaos ensues on Thanksgiving Eve (or as some call it “Blackout Wednesday”) as the two attempt to follow through on their heartbreak mission.
Weiss said that leading a cast of young actors gave her comfort throughout the experience. Her stars, Shipka and Hiraga, lauded the first-time director on her ability to make everyone feel at home.
“It was genuinely one of my favorite experiences I’ve had with a director. She’s so smart, she’s so natural,” Shipka, who has also worked on “Twisters,” “Longlegs,” “Red One” and “The Last Showgirl” just this year, said. “She can really get into the nitty gritty with actors and is also so good at hard comedy.”
“She’s a legend. She’s a force of nature. She kills it,” Hiraga added.
For Weiss and Brier, it was important to bring an authentic Gen Z perspective into the script, even allowing for changes on set.
“We made it very clear. We were like, ‘If anything in this [script] sounds “millennial cringe,” you’re obligated not to say it and to flag it for us and to rephrase it as a young person,” the 31-year-old director said.
“We were strict with ourselves, about not committing to any slang that would have aged out,” Brier said.
“It was hard to avoid,” Weiss added.
The writer-director made it a point to not make the film too contemporary or trendy, even in the styling and music choices. She wanted “Sweethearts” to have a timeless effect, much like the coming-of-age comedies that inspired her in the development stages.
The writing partners took inspiration from John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and Greg Mottola’s “Superbad.” Weiss added that their premise for the film was if “Superbad” got the “When Harry Met Sally” treatment.
Brier and Weiss also broke down the twist at the end of the movie.
After breaking up with their significant others, Jamie and Ben, who had a flirty, will-they-won’t-they banter throughout the film, ultimately decide to stay just friends.
“It’s what we view as a happy ending for these two characters at this moment in their lives,” Brier said. “To go off and keep learning about themselves and building up their own life and their own new friends.”
Weiss added that them ending up together was never what she and Brier were rooting for.
“I think the happiest ending for two 19-year-olds who are freshmen in college is to explore, learn about yourself, meet new people, go on adventures, try new things, fail, fall in love, have heartbreak,” she said.
Hiraga did not quite expect the twist, but Shipka said it felt right.
“When we actually did the scene where we talk about the fact that we should just be friends, it felt right. I felt relieved for them,” Shipka said. “But I love that you kind of don’t know, and I love that they don’t know.”
Brier and Weiss are set to reunite for an adaptation of Curtis Sittenfeld’s bestseller, “Romantic Comedy,” about a comedy writer who thinks she’s sworn off love until a dreamy musician changes her mind.
Weiss also wrote the screenplay for “Freakier Friday,” the highly anticipated sequel starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis set to hit theaters in August 2025.
“Sweethearts” is now streaming on Max.
