There has to be something about a movie’s storyline when the girl sitting next to you is bawling her eyes out. But who can you blame? The heartbreaking Taylor Swift lyrics (We gather here, we line up, weepin’ in a sunlit room) playing in the background of the movie’s first look warned you. Helmed by Justin Baldoni, It Ends With Us is a not-so-glossy adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel.
Several factors ignited intense debate on the internet upon the film’s initial announcement, from the cast not matching the visual expectations of the readers to the fear of romanticising the plot. Which I would fairly accept was the complaint for me while reading the book. But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. The movie slowly and mindfully starts breaking the narratives set by the book.
Storyline
If you aren’t part of the BookTok community or aren’t aware of the real reason behind the heavy drama of the plot, then settle down, because it’s going to be a bumpy and tear-jerking ride. It Ends With Us is narrated through the eyes of our main character, Lily Blossom Bloom (who names their kids like that?), played by the beautiful Blake Lively.
The opening scene starts with her travelling back to her hometown of Maine to attend her father’s funeral. When asked to talk about him at the memorial, she finds it difficult to speak, not as a sign of grief but because he wasn’t a good man. Later, following her return to Boston, Lily meets an attractive neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid (played by Baldoni), on a rooftop. The two of them flirt briefly before he gets called in to work for an emergency case, but pretty soon, he’s strolling into her recently opened flower shop because, coincidentally, he’s the brother of Allysa (played by Jenny Slate), Lily’s coworker turned new best friend.
As her name suggests, Lily Blossom Bloom is obsessed with flowers and makes artsy arrangements in her free time. The film’s plot is almost a copy-paste from the book for most of the sequences. As the romance starts blossoming (you see what I did there) between Lily and Ryle, we’re simultaneously shown the flashbacks of Lily’s teenage years, which helps us navigate Lily and Atlas’ (played by Brandon Sklenar) pivotal relationship. In her teenage years, young Lily (played by Isabela Ferrer) befriends Atlas Corrigan (played by Alex Neustaedter), when she discovers the youngster homeless and coming from a broken family, roaming after his mother has thrown him out.
Lily starts offering Atlas food and clean clothes, and after a while, the teenagers build an intimate relationship. Soon in the present timeline, the adult version of Atlas reappears in the story, igniting jealousy in her now-boyfriend Ryle. Who, by the way, needs serious therapy, and his fans need to rethink their life choices.
The abuse starts creeping into Lily’s life as Ryle subsequently turns out to be as violent as her father, whom she witnessed physically abuse her mother her whole life. During an argument, things get uglier as Ryle holds her down while forcing himself on her, which leaves Lily traumatised, but the mess doesn’t end there. When Atlas takes Lily to the hospital, Lily finds out that she is pregnant.
Now Lily has a choice to make and not a lot of women in her shoes are given that chance. Either she stays with Ryle and continues the pattern of abuse that she witnessed in her whole childhood or she takes a stand for herself and her daughter and breaks free. This is where It Ends With Us sparks the conversation about why women stay in abusive marriages just like Lily’s mother, bringing the book’s tagline to life: We break the pattern or the pattern breaks us.
Why Does It Need To End With Us?
The plot buildup is an assorted platter of all the romantic film tropes. If I am being honest, after seeing Lily and Ryle’s first date, I knew it was a lost case of cliches. A silly first meet? Done. A player who, after falling in love with the female challenges him all the time, changes his womanising behaviour? (Done, slay!) Old-fashioned corny meet-cute dialogue like I don’t want to have sex at the first meet? Groundbreaking!
This being said, I was not prepared when the storyline evolved, which is a bit different from the book. It Ends With Us turns into an intense story portraying domestic abuse and the obstacles faced by survivors who must summon the courage to leave the abusive setting to which they became accustomed out of fear and manipulation. The very general question people ask the victims is: ‘Why don’t you just leave?’ I am not the correct person to point it out, but in most cases, despite everything the abuser has done, they tend to get bound to it as the abuser is a close person.
Many people get severely mentally affected and spin out of control being in the situation. Not all victims cry softly in the corner. Dysregulated mental states and dysregulated behaviour following abuse can lead to victims not being believed or seeming like they are the problem. Without adequate understanding from the community about resulting mental health conditions, it seems pointless to lean on the support of others.
Coming back to It Ends With Us, the narration starts to highlight a woman who ends the cycle of abuse, dares to leave the situation, and embraces a better life for herself and her kid for whom she hopes to set an example. It Ends With Us does try to conclude with an emotional and general exchange that needs to be heard by domestic abusers around the world. But it’s a shame the rest of the film doesn’t cut nearly as deep. The film also fails to build the needed relationship between adult Lily and Atlas, which serves a major significance in the books.
Blake Lively has done a decent job portraying Lily’s emotional state throughout the film. Justin Baldoni has picked himself for the more meatier role of the two men in Lily’s life. As you see him turn creepier on screen, the more dishevelled he starts appearing, a way of portraying the change in his demeanour. It Ends With Us manages to let Ryle not get too sympathetic while also turning him into a sneering monster far too soon—he has a horrific past that is exposed towards the end of the movie.
Alex Neustaedter’s portrayal of Atlas feels almost blank even though the character is one of the most loved by fans in the books. His performance won’t truly win you over with his charm. The other characters Allysa and Marshall are fairly played by Jenny Slate and Hasan Minhaj, who have tried to add some comic air to this dramatic film.
In a nutshell, if you are a fan of the book, you can give this film a watch.
Also, read: #ELLEIndiaExclusive: Colleen Hoover Takes Us Inside The Making Of ‘It Ends With Us’
Blake Lively Stuns With 12 Jaw-Dropping Fashion Looks Inspired By Her Role In ‘It Ends With Us’
