It Ends With Us is a wonderful adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 romance novel. Blake Lively stars as Lily Bloom, a woman who meets the handsome Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni). They start a romantic relationship, which gets out of hand once Lily runs into an old flame. The book has been a sensation for a few years, spreading through the TikTok community and being praised for its themes. I have not read the book, but this movie does a beautiful job of telling the emotional, tragic story of a woman in an abusive relationship.
The film opens by introducing us to Lily shortly after her father’s death. She is unable to find anything positive to say about him at his funeral, and we’re left wondering why their relationship was so strained. As she sits on a roof and ponders, Ryle joins her on the roof. The two meet and hit it off. This particular scene works due to a few qualities. Christy Hall, who also wrote this year’s Daddio, adapts the book superbly. The dialogue can feel organically funny at times while also slowing down at the right moments and becoming more somber when the characters unpack their lives.
The film’s success is also attributed to the chemistry between the actors, particularly Justin Baldoni’s work in front of and behind the camera. Directing and acting are two intensive art forms, and performing them simultaneously is a monumental task. Yet, Baldoni’s camera setups, simple yet effective, and his direction of the performances, particularly his own acting off of Blake Lively, are commendable. The way they bounce back and forth feels grounded, adding depth to the characters and engaging the audience.
Lively and Baldoni both do an excellent job of making their characters feel like real people we may know. The script also sets up Ryle’s red flags early on without ever fully turning the audience against him. This allows us to empathize with Lily, wondering what we would do if we were in her shoes. It’s easy to rationalize and make excuses for Ryle’s behavior, especially because the events in this narrative are not always kind to him. But there’s only so much that he can get away with before crossing a line, and all we can do is sit back and watch in horror as Lily finds herself in a terrible situation.
It Ends With Us also features a nonlinear narrative. We cut between the present and flashbacks to Lily’s adolescence. Isabela Ferrer does a phenomenal job playing young Lily, very believably feeling like a younger version of Lively’s portrayal. In these flashbacks, we learn of her first relationship with a young Atlas Corrigan (Alex Neustaedter). We also get a greater sense of who her father is and how he treats his family. This film paints a well-rounded view of Lily and how her past made her who she is today.
Early on, Lily meets Allysa (Jenny Slate), a woman who enters her flower shop looking for a job. Allysa is also Rile’s brother, creating a fascinating dynamic, especially as Lily and Allysa become best friends. Their friendship becomes one of the more wholesome aspects of the film, as is Allysa’s relationship with her fiancée Marshall (Hasan Minhaj). Slate has provided strong comedic performances in her career. While she gets some humorous moments here, she gets a dramatic moment toward the end where she gets to shine as a serious actress.
Ryle and Lily grow closer together, but the sudden appearance of a now-adult Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) throws everything out of balance. Although Atlas gets a meaningful character moment towards the end of the film, his character could have had a bit more to him to make him multi-dimensional earlier on. The movie works best when it gives Ryle reasons to be jealous and pulls tension out of what he will do when he discovers certain information. It works because he starts as a dominant, handsome man with many attractive qualities, but with these traits come many red flags. He’s written with a lot of empathy. He’s not a caricature of an evil, abusive husband. There are layers to him that make him easy to like and hate.
The runtime also feels a bit long, but that’s because the movie spends a lot of time on Lily’s relationships with Ryle, Atlas, Alyssa, her mother, and her father. It Ends With Us succeeds primarily due to Lively’s performance. Her way of speaking makes every line feel unrehearsed, which is one of the best qualities an actor can have. The film’s theme of how abuse occurs in generational cycles is powerful as we see Lily’s aim to break the cycle that exists so commonly in the world. All we can do throughout is hope that it ends with her.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our review.
