It Ends With Us – A Compelling Toxic Relationship Drama

Studios looking to leverage successful books and book series in the hopes of translating that success into feature films is not a new thing by any means. Hoping that the fan bases of these literary works will come over to their film adaptations, the end result could be hit or miss while trying to do right for those fans and garnering enough of a wider appeal to attract new audiences. While many may not work for general audiences, that being said, their fan bases should not be underestimated. When it comes to It Ends With Us, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover, its fans have responded big time, as reflected by its opening weekend box office numbers. Though it easily could have gotten by simply by pandering to fans of the source material, the film offers a little something for everyone. Straddling that fine line, like many similar films have done, between drama and melodrama without leaning more towards one or the other. Once the dust settled, it delivers a compelling toxic relationship tale that earns its emotion through a story about one woman’s resilience to finally break the cycle of abuse that has defined her for most of her life. Not the easiest journey, it ultimately works thanks to a strong performance from Blake Lively, who carries it all on her back. However, some depth issues keeps it from reaching the kind of heights the film hoped it’d achieved.

It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom (Lively), a woman who moved to Boston to start a new life for herself. Opening a flower shop, she soon found her life turned upside down by Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), a charming neurosurgeon for whom she met by chance and then fell in love with. Despite not being the most keen on relationships, there was something about Lily that drew him to her. Against his nature, Lily and Ryle began a passionate romance. Meanwhile, those familiar with the source material, or even those who have encountered any of the film’s promotional material, will know that this story is not one meant to have a happy ending. As Lily and Ryle’s relationship heated up, the latter’s darker side emerged as he became abusive towards her. Leaving her with a lot to process as she navigated her feelings about her past and present, the film presents a nice contrast as flashbacks offered a backstory of how a young Lily (Isabela Ferrer) fell in love with her first love, Atlas (Alex Neustaedter), in the midst of the abusive relationship between her parents, Jenny (Amy Morton) and Andrew (Kevin McKidd). Reminiscing about her time with Atlas, her life was turned upside down once again as Atlas (Sklenar) reappeared.

From there, suffice it to say, Atlas would become a point of contention in Lily and Ryle’s relationship. Seeing him again brought out a wave of emotion inside of Lily as the feelings she had came streaming back. Manoeuvring through the awkwardness of what was essentially a love triangle, she had to make sense of her feelings for Ryle and Atlas, Atlas still had feelings for Lily and noticed what was happening to her, after experiencing the relationship between Lily’s parents, and Ryle, knowing of her past relationship with Atlas and seemingly feeling threatened by it, lashed out accordingly. Trying to make it work with Ryle, much like her mother tried to do with her father, the complexity of the situation made those prospects challenging. However, what appeared to be a situation with no way out, Atlas perhaps presented that way out. He saw what was going on and it was only a matter of time until Lily turned to him. In the end, she could only forgive or brush off so many of Ryle’s misgivings. As she finally took charge of her own life, it felt less like the end of a story and more like the start of a new one.

The topic of domestic violence is not one to be taken lightly. While not the easiest films to watch at times, It Ends With Us succeeds through the uplifting tale at the root of it all. Domestic violence played a major role in Lily’s story but the film fails to approach it with any depth, missing the opportunity to fill in some gaps and add further context to her story. However, that was only a minor issue. While some may argue about the story, including some sappiness and predictability, no one can argue about Lively’s strong performance as Lily. Though she is taken through the ringer, she is more than up to the task at keeping up with it all.

Lively makes Lily into a compelling figure across her roller coaster of a character arc. While the material may not have been the strongest, she gave it life as she carried the film on her back. None of it would have worked if not for her, Lively pulls audiences into Lily’s plight as the man she thought to be the answer turned out to not be, thus continuing the cycle. Her chemistry with Baldoni as Ryle could have been better, however, they do just enough to create a toxic dynamic. Charming, Ryle is an antagonist that could have been more had he been more developed. The real chemistry was between Lively and Sklenar, as Atlas. Despite their limited screen time, the longer history between both their characters made for a more believable relationship. As an aside, Jenny Slate as Ryle’s sister Allysa was a scene stealer, bringing an energy that was fun to watch, but not big enough to distract from the film’s more serious subject matter.

At the end of the day, It Ends With Us delivers a compelling toxic relationship drama that avoids the trap of past romantic adaptations by offering enough for everyone, capped off by a strong performance from Blake Lively.

still courtesy of Columbia Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.