The Bikeriders‘ ambiguous ending is getting some clarity from director Jeff Nichols and Jody Comer (Kathy). Inspired by Danny Lyon’s photobook, which followed a motorcycle club in the mid-1960s, the movie explores a romance between a member of the Vandals Motorcycle Club and a fairly regular Midwestern woman. The Bikeriders opened to strong reviews and a $10 million take in its opening weekend. Yet, while many have enjoyed the atypical period piece, its confusing ending has been raising questions.

Nichols has been taking the opportunity to offer some clarity, but he is still fairly happy about the confusion. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nichols and Comer spoke out about Benny’s future with Kathy and where their relationship will go. Nichols expects that the two will drift apart, but Comer and Nichols both agree that the ambiguous ending leaves room for audiences to decide for themselves. Check out their responses below:

NICHOLS: [Do they stick together?] Probably not. The truth is, that’s why I like the ending. He’s smiling. She’s smiling. I don’t think she believes everything she’s saying at the end of the film. And he’s definitely hearing that call of those motorcycles. The truth is you don’t know, and I’m good with that, but I think they know, and probably we know as an audience that is tenuous ground that they’re standing on. The film very much leaves it open to interpretation, and if people want to walk out of the theater and think, ‘Oh, she got Austin Butler and now they get to live happily after,’ if that’s what they need in their life, then that’s what they can have.

COMER: Something that really stuck with me when I watched the film the other night at the L.A. premiere was this line where she says, ‘You hang out with these guys enough, it changes you. You start acting like them.’ And you know what? That really stuck with me because I thought, ‘Oh wow, I wonder where she went?’ Because I think that’s true. There was so much violence and disruption and heartache and crying, that felt like a very honest moment for her. So, I’m curious to know where that led.

NICHOLS: Kathy and Benny had a son, and he showed up to the box office when we were going to premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival and gave us a letter. We gave that to Danny Lyon and he’s gone to interview him. So the story is unfolding and it’s going to be pretty fascinating, I think, to see who does come out of the woodwork.

Developing…

Source: EW