 The novel closes with the, now grown, men confessing that they had loved the girls, but that they will never know the motives behind the suicides.Sofia Coppola wrote the screenplay for and directed a 97-minute film version, which was shot in the summer of 1998, and released on May 19, 1999 at the Cannes Film Festival.The Virgin Suicides was Sofia Coppola's feature directional debut.