Fans want to know whether Blake Lively’s new film It Ends With Us is based on a true story or novel or is simply fiction. This upcoming film is directed by Justin Baldoni (who also stars in the movie) from a screenplay by Christy Hall. The story follows Lily Bloom, a woman who suffered a traumatic childhood. She also shares a strained relationship with her parents, who had a dysfunctional marriage. Lily eventually meets, falls in love and starts a relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. However, their relationship gets tested when she witnesses a rather violent side to him.
So is Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us based on a novel/true story or is fiction? Is the film inspired by real events?
Is It Ends With Us based on a novel?
Yes, It Ends With Us is based on a 2016 romance novel by Colleen Hoover.
Much like the movie adaptation, the novel closely follows the story of Lily Bloom, a woman with a troubled childhood. She comes from a difficult household, where her father would constantly abuse her mother. The novel covers Lily’s attempts to start her own floral shop, her love life and eventual marriage with Ryle Kincaid, his abuse of her, and her eventual attempts to escape from her tumultuous relationship.
The only difference between the movie and its source material is the character’s ages. In the book, Lily and Ryle are 23 and 30 respectively. However, they are much older in the film adaptation. This information was revealed in Colleen Hoover’s appearance on TODAY. In the interview, she revealed that she had “messed up” when deciding the character’s ages.
So, the author consulted the film’s production team to help rectify the mistake and age the characters up. Hoover’s comments came out after 35-year-old Blake Lively’s casting as Lily met reportedly met with significant backlash from fans.
Six years later, in 2022, a sequel to It Ends With Us, It Starts With Us, released. This novel closely follows the relationship between Lily Bloom and Atlas Corrigan, established in the previous book.
Is It Ends With Us inspired by real events?
Yes, It Ends With Us is inspired by real events.
The story is loosely based on Colleen Hoover’s real-life experiences growing up with an abusive father and her troubled mother, who eventually gathered the courage to leave the marriage.
However, Hoover’s It Ends With Us is only a simplification of her mother’s experiences. The author had revealed this information in a 2023 interview with Time Magazine. Here, she also opined that Ryle Kincaid in the books was a “nicer character” compared to her own father.
