I have rarely felt so out-of-the-loop about something. I try my best to stay in-the-know about things in pop culture, even in areas I don’t necessarily partake in myself. I had no idea this was a book, I’ve never heard of Colleen Hoover, and somehow I missed what a big sensation her 2016 novel It Ends With Us turned out to be. I only just realized all this when I walked into a packed theater of mostly women, all of whom were obviously very excited to see this film adaptation, the first of any of her material. And if this film is of any indication, I think I can see why her work stories seem to resonate.
The film, which was written by Christy Hall and directed by Justin Baldoni, follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a young woman who recently lost her father, which she has mixed feelings about because her father was quite abusive towards her mother. She tries to move on, and set up a new flower shop in Boston, but she falls in love with a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni). But it appears that Ryle may also show tendencies that are similar to Lily’s father. Meanwhile, she also discovers that her very first love from her teen years, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), is a restaurant owner in town.
Based on the title and from that brief synopsis, it’s pretty easy to understand that the big theme in the film is the idea of someone being able to recognize that they might continue a generational cycle of abuse, and has to come to terms with putting some end to it. And it would be very easy to simply have Ryle be this Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type person, but the film is actually a lot more nuanced than I expected. He certainly does display a few red flags from their first meeting, but it’s also very understandable that he could charm his way to whatever he needs, and he also has more depth that is explored later in the film.
On the surface, it looks like the kind of film that will try to take things the easy way out, but it more often than not tries to actually explore these kinds of dynamics in a very realistic manner, really taking time with the characters. In fact, most of the action doesn’t really happen until far into the latter half of the film, we spend a great deal building up to the moment Ryle first puts his hands on Lily, and it’s not even an especially dramatic or exaggerated moment. Like in a lot of instances of abuse, it can be mistaken as just a simple “accident” or “one-time slip up,” and it isn’t until later when you can recognize that this is part of a pattern of behavior that should not be tolerated.
Thankfully, the film also doesn’t lean too heavily into the whole love-triangle aspect of the story. Atlas is mostly in the sidelines, offering his support, and not being this overt savior to rescue Lily from her situation. It gives all the agency to her, which is very important for stories like this. Though, we do get quite a bit of Atlas, mostly in flashbacks, where he is played by Alex Neustaedter and young Lily is played by Isabela Ferrer. Sometimes these moments halt the momentum of the present day narrative, but they do add a lot of context that pays off in the later emotional beats.
Sometimes you can very much tell that this is adapting a book, whether it’s from the way the narrative flows to a certain line that feels a little awkward when spoken out loud, but I imagine looks way better when written down. And supporting characters like Allysa (Jenny Slate), Lily’s flower shop employee and sister to Ryle, along with her husband Marshall (Hasan Minhaj) – also, I don’t believe for a second that any brown parents would ever name their kid “Marshall – feel like they were ripped right out of the corny rom-com version of this story. But the performances overall are strong enough to sell everything.
What helps It Ends With Us really succeed is its strong focus on character and their emotional journeys. While it the limitations of its PG-13 rating does occasionally soften the edges of the story, I think the filmmakers are able to tackle the subject with plenty of sensitivity and awareness of how these feelings can affect an individual, even in ways that are not obvious. Obviously, I haven’t read the book, so I can’t really speak to this as an adaptation, but as a film, I think it works well enough, mainly due to the commitment from the actors involved, but particularly from Blake Lively, who is really strong here, very natural and understated, and she has good chemistry with her co-stars. Justin Baldoni’s work behind the camera isn’t especially inventive, but it gets the job done, and does well in really showcasing performance above all else, and having to balance that plus the character he plays is a pretty impressive juggling act. I don’t see this being one of those movies I’d revisit, but I would imagine that fans of the books would be happy, and I hope they enjoy seeing these characters brought to life.
It Ends With Us is now out in theaters.
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