‘Friendship’ Director Andrew DeYoung Breaks Down Ending

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the ending of “Friendship,” out now in theaters.

You’ll be forgiven for assuming that A24’s “Friendship” is one long “I Think You Should Leave” sketch. After all, Tim Robinson’s lines like “There’s a new Marvel out that’s supposed to be nuts” could easily fit into the outrageous world of the Netflix sketch comedy series. But as gut-bustingly funny as “Friendship” can be, it’s got a sneaky emotional core that may even make you shed a tear or two.

“Even though his show goes wild, Tim acts as if there’s no joke, and I think that’s why people respond to him, because he’s so committed to the emotion,” writer-director Andrew DeYoung tells Variety.

Speaking with Variety ahead of the film’s nationwide release, DeYoung breaks down the most outrageous moments “Friendship” moments, from a psychedelic Subway trip to that final wink.

The male loneliness epidemic has been a hot topic in recent years. Did that directly inspire the film?

It comes from my own desire to connect and how funny it is to me seeing other people spin out, trying to connect. That’s the that’s the gut of it. It comes from a deep emotional place. Not trying to reverse engineer anything.

My favorite scene in the movie is when Craig goes on a psychedelic trip after licking an exotic toad, only to find himself in a Subway with Austin. How did you come up with that?

I love Subway. I grew up at Subway! Anytime I smell it, when I pass by, it gives me such deep feelings of home, even though I haven’t probably eaten there in a decade. I’m just writing this thing, and he’s in the back of a cell phone store about to do psychedelics. The first impulse is to write something crazy. It just didn’t feel right. I’ve seen it all, and there’s been so many brilliant examples of crazy drug trips. I can’t beat any of this. What’s actually the most interesting thing is to go the opposite route and go pure banal.

I always thought that we would have to rewrite that and make it some generic sandwich shop. But Subway was so down. They even showed up to set and were giving Paul tips on how to make a sandwich!

Kate Mara is really a secret weapon of this film. We know her primarily for her dramatic work, and she previously told me that you asked her to play Tami like she was in a drama, too. Why was that your direction?

I gave that note to everybody. Even though Tim is doing wild stuff here, the goal is to play everything like a drama. Because I think when the emotion is respected and has depth, then the humor will hit harder. That’s how I operate. And I think Tim operates like that in his show, too. There’s no winks. To me, it always makes like the comedy hit harder when you watch people trying their best and working at the top of their intelligence. When you feel like they’re playing dumber, I’m like, “I hate them.” It was so great to have Kate, who’s such an amazing actor, bring so much gravity to these scenes. After I cut the movie together, I was like, “Oh my God. She has the most significant transformation out of everybody!”

At the end of the film, as Craig is sitting in the police car, he gets a wink from Austin. What’s behind that?

I love ending on complicated feelings. I think my favorite movies feel resolved, but also kind of open-ended in a certain way. I like this moment where he’s at his lowest, but maybe he’s about to learn what it takes to be a friend. Or they’re actually about to be friends now, since they both know kind of how to hold each other and each other’s vulnerabilities. Or there’s the darker reading where it’s like, “Oh fuck, he’s about to be even more obsessed.” I like how it feels resolved, but there’s so many different readings of it.”

How much improv was incorporated on set?

It’s mostly on the page. But of course, there’s those brilliant moments when you have so many incredible actors and incredible stuff’s gonna happen. Conner [O’Malley] and Tim’s scene in the garage, the shape is there, but all that’s improvised – them figuring that out is them being brilliant. Conner’s speech when he stands on the chair, that’s all pure Connor. There’s plenty of little moments throughout that everyone is adding to. I’m surrounded by brilliant people. It’s inevitable.

One of the funniest running gags in “Friendship” is Tami’s constant thoughts about her ex-boyfriend Devon.

My intention is, in healthy relationships, we should be able to hang out with people that are “threatening to our relationship,” if you feel secure, right? I feel like the Tami character is coming off a life-changing cancer diagnosis. She’s trying to expand her life, trying to live as fully as possible, like she should be able to. She feels comfortable enough to be like, “I’m going to hang out with an ex.” I love how threatening that is to Craig.

It’s come up a handful of times like, “Why are these two people married?” I’ve always justified it like, when you see people at the end of their relationship who haven’t realized they’re about to break up, they look like strangers. Then a couple months later, they eventually pull the plug. That’s kind of what I’m hinting at.

You’re working with Tim again on “The Chair Company” on HBO. What can you tell me about it so far?

We’re shooting it right now. Zach [Kanin] and Tim are pushing into brand new territory, and it’s really exciting to watch them do that. It’s a comedy that’s wrapped in a mystery, and the premise is so perfectly Zach and Tim. It and it feels like a sketch that becomes an entire show. It’s really beautiful what they’re doing. I feel so lucky to be involved.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.