It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel of the same name, stars Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, a florist with dreams of opening her own flower shop in Boston. Shortly after she walks out of her father’s funeral, Lily meets Ryle Kincaid, played by the film’s director, Justin Baldoni. Lily and Ryle have a quick and easy chemistry, but Lily is disinterested in starting anything with Ryle since he’s only looking for a casual hook up while she’d rather start a relationship with someone, and they part ways.
Months pass and Lily opens her flower shop after hiring a woman who wandered in off the street looking for a job, Allysa, played by the wonderful Jenny Slate. Lily and Allysa become fast friends, and when invited to go out with Allysa, her husband, and her brother, Lily is shocked to discover that Ryle is Allysa’s brother. After lots of banter and an attempt at being “friends,” Lily and Ryle begin a relationship that slowly deepens until it’s clear that Ryle’s behavior can be more sinister than his charm lets on, though these moments aren’t clear to the audience at first. It Ends With Us is a slow burn of Lily realizing all the ways the situation she has found herself in is mirroring her own parents’ abusive relationship, and it’s communicated very effectively through quick cuts and shaky shots, often leaving the audience wondering what just happened right alongside Lily.
Justin Baldoni’s performance throughout is well-measured and believable, equal parts charming and threatening. Blake Lively, on the other hand, is quippy and giggly but her performance lacks any other depth. A lot of the dialogue, early on in the movie especially, isn’t doing any of the actors any favors, however. Several exchanges are full of hamfisted lines that are either too exposition-heavy or feel like purposefully quotable one-liners, written for the sole purpose of coming across to the audience as well-written or clever.
Despite the flaws in the dialogue, It Ends With Us is a great showcase of what abuse can look like even when it’s not outright violence, and explores what it can feel like to be in that situation yourself, trying to convince yourself what you’re experiencing isn’t actually abuse: maybe it was an accident, maybe it was a mistake that you made, maybe you don’t remember exactly what happened. It Ends With Us explores situations like this and more, opening up a space to have a conversation about abuse, how to recognize it, and how to remove yourself from it. The film’s ability to inspire these conversations is important because, as Lily says to Ryle halfway through the film when she tells him her dad used to hit her mom, “people don’t talk about it.”
It Ends With Us has an important message, even with a few missteps. If the colossal success of the original novel is anything to go by, this film is going to be seen by a lot of people, which will, hopefully, lead to a lot of conversations about recognizing abuse. Yes, the dialogue is clunky, and Blake Lively doesn’t have the depth of some of her costars, but there are also great performances and smart camera work helping to move the film along, and I think audiences are going to eat it up.
Score: 7/10
It Ends With Us
IT ENDS WITH US, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.
Directed by Justin Baldoni and produced by Alex Saks, Jamey Heath, Blake Lively and Christy Hall. The film stars Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Amy Morton and Brandon Sklenar, from a screenplay by Christy Hall, based on the book by Colleen Hoover.
DIRECTED BY: Justin Baldoni
CAST: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Amy Morton, and Brandon Sklenar
SCREENPLAY BY: Christy Hall
BASED ON THE BOOK BY: Colleen Hoover
PRODUCED BY: Alex Saks, Jamey Heath, Blake Lively, Christy Hall
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Steve Sarowitz, Todd Black, Andrew Calof, Andrea Ajemian, John Logan Pierson, Colleen Hoover
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