Isabella McNutt ’27 is a Government and History double major, and she is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She loves traveling, french and music. Email her at immcnutt@wm.edu.
In continuation with the boom of romantic comedies, the highly anticipated “It Ends With Us” sparks confusion, anger, love and happiness all at once. This film is based on controversial author Colleen Hoover’s romantic novel that was most popular in 2019. Hoover herself had experienced incredible backlash before the cast of the film was even announced. Many influencers on Tik Tok and Instagram criticized her novels for labeling and essentially encouraging manipulative and toxic relationships as romantic. While I do not think Hoover’s books are problematic by nature, the glorification of these types of relationships is what makes them harmful for younger viewers. So, does the film give us a painful and tragic story that explores the toxicity of these abusive relationships? Or is it just another one of Hoover’s attempts to make trauma seem romantic?
“It Ends With Us” is about a young woman, Lily Bloom, who shares her story of entanglement in an abusive relationship with doctor Ryle Kincaid and eventually finds the strength to liberate herself. Throughout this battle, she reflects on her upbringing in a home marked by abuse while building her understanding of love as a teenager into adulthood. Lily constantly thinks about her first love Atlas Corrigan, who she coincidentally runs into at a restaurant. As someone who absolutely loved the novel, this film only partially unpacks the complexity of Hoover’s gut-wrenching and deeply impactful story. Some of my most favorite parts of the book were simply left of or replaced. There was no “Better in Boston” magnet, no personal diary entries, no BIBS restaurant and no “Finding Nemo” reference to “just keep swimming.” All of the major abusive moments and relationship rapport are slightly altered, and for the worse if you ask me. The book that seemed so detailed and real is almost sped up by this new story line. Normally, I don’t mind these little changes when a book turns into a film, however, in “It Ends With Us,” these changes are what romanticize domestic violence. The storyline puts less emphasis on the complexity of domestic violence itself by minimizing Ryle’s subtle manipulation, suggesting that Ryle is quick to accept Lily’s desire to seek liberation, and reinforces the question “Why didn’t she leave?” as opposed to “Why did she stay?” All these little moments support the idea that Lily should have seen it coming. With just this, “It Ends With Us” is most definitely not worth watching. However, Justin Baldoni’s somewhat heroic casting may just have been the saving grace that made this film the blockbuster it has become.
Blake Lively attempts to bring justice to adult Lily Bloom by capturing her hesitation yet intense passion with Ryle. Lily is brutally honest, distrustful, somewhat oblivious and coy. “It Ends With Us” is most definitely her story, through and through. Lively’s beauty (even with her hair dyed red) and innocent persona made her the most perfect actress to give the viewers an acceptable Lily Bloom. However, this cast was not what the book-lovers envisioned simply because they do not reflect the original vision for the characters. Just looking at the actors’ ages – the story is already very different because they are much older than they are thought to be in the book. While this is not necessarily a deal breaker, many fans were incredibly outspoken about how the actors did not match the looks or vibes of the characters they were playing. Blake Lively specifically looks womanly and accomplished, while Lily Bloom is meant to look fragile and hopeful. While Blake Lively was the Lily I was most excited to see, it was young Lily Bloom played by Isabela Ferrer that absolutely took my breath away. She was everything I wanted and more. Her innocent demeanor, soft curiosity in Atlas and this almost helpless and fearful role she had with her father was visible from the very start. From Lily’s little flinches as her father enters the room as she is baking cookies, to the most heartbreaking scene of Lily’s father finding her and Atlas in bed, Isabela brilliantly brings young Lily to life.
Lively’s other co-star Brandon Sklenar portrays adult Atlas Corrigan, the young love, the one that got away and Lily’s protector. Sklenar was a perfectly okay actor to capture the mysterious and incredibly charming character. His longing facial expressions, subtle mannerisms around Lily and undeniable love and passion captured the Atlas many book-lovers envisioned. However, the new storyline did not allow the audience to connect with Atlas as much as the book did, which is why his character was not better received and most definitely not my favorite. However, young Altas Corrigan was absolute perfection with the acting of Alex Neustaedter. Even with the little screen time Neustaedter was given, his role as Atlas was instrumental to making this film even comparable to the book. Atlas was calm, patient, shy and self-sacrificing with all the same intensification as the book. Neustaedter and Ferrer together created the chemistry that makes this movie worthwhile.
As someone who absolutely loved the book for the complex romantic yet terrifying relationships it explored, the film left me with incredibly mixed feelings. If you are someone who was dying to see “It Ends With Us” to showcase the plot of the book, do not bother. If you have never read the book, the storyline is perfectly fine but not the reason you should watch this movie. Even with the little screen time these characters get, young Lily and Atlas allow you to better understand the complexity of relationships and reinforce key aspects of long term effects of domestic violence. Therefore, if you are going to watch “It Ends With Us,” do it for young Lily and Atlas who single-handedly save this otherwise sub-par film.