Warning: This article contains spoilers for the new film Twisters.
Even if you had a whirlwind of a time with the new Twisters movie, you may well have been left with one niggling concern – where was the Hollywood kiss?
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell star as meteorologist Kate Carter and storm chaser Tyler Owens respectively in the sequel to the similarly-named 1996 disaster movie.
While they spend the first half of the film antagonising one another, they eventually bond over their common goals in tornado research.
That leads to the ambiguous final moments where Kate is about to jet off home, only for Tyler to rush through the airport to retrieve her.
Surely the scene is setting us up for a romantic proclamation of love and a big old smooch?
Except, it never happens. And fans of the movie were quick to voice their disappointment online.
That’s not to say the production team didn’t think about it.
In fact, a kiss scene was filmed – footage of which has recently leaked online – but eventually scrapped in favour of the ending we see, which is Kate and Tyler running towards the exit, to go and chase another storm together.
“I feel like audiences are in a different place now in terms of wanting a kiss or not wanting a kiss,” director Lee Isaac Chung told Entertainment Weekly.
“I actually tried the kiss, and it was very polarising – and it’s not because of their performance of the kiss.”
According to Lee, it simply came down to the fact that he liked the alternative version better.
“I think it’s a better ending. And I think that people who want a kiss within it, they can probably assume that these guys will kiss someday. And maybe we can give them privacy for that,” he explained.
“In a way, this ending is a means to make sure that we really wrap things up with it in a celebratory, good way.”
Apparently, one iconic filmmaker might have even had a say in getting the kiss completely cut from the movie.
“I think it’s a [Steven] Spielberg note, wasn’t it? Do you know what it is? I think it stops the film feeling too cliched, actually,” Daisy told Collider of the legendary director, who was a producer on Twister and the new sequel.
“I think there’s something really wonderful about it feeling like there’s a continuation. This isn’t the end of their story. They’re united by their shared passion for something.”
Glen agreed that the movie “is not about them finding love”, but rather Kate returning to “the thing that she loves, which is storm chasing”.
The first Twister movie starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton did include a kiss, just saying.
Kiss or no kiss, Twisters has still gone down a storm with critics and is continuing to boom at the box office.