Reminders of Him: Melodrama Above All Else

The works of author Colleen Hoover have been the gift that has kept on giving as of late. Following 2024’s infamous ‘It Ends With Us’ and 2025’s ‘Regretting You.’ here is Reminders of Him, a film that leans more towards the former than the latter. While a genre that is inherently not for everyone, these films, and Hoover, continue to find success and there’s not reason to think that this latest film could not get there. A perfect storm of themes and tropes, enveloped in thick melodrama, those who are not predisposed to these kinds of films may be in for a tough time. Disguised as sentimentality, the melodrama is merely a means to distract from its other flaws. Using it as an excuse to not address such themes as grief, rehabilitation, and guilt, it seems satisfied with maximizing them for dramatic purposes without ever addressing them in a meaningful way. Granted, expecting this much of a film like this one is essentially a futile venture, but either way, audiences will either find themselves drawn to the story and the characters, or rolling their eyes at the utter cheesiness of it all.

As mentioned, Reminders of Him is based on the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover (she also co-wrote the script), and follows Kenna (Monroe), a woman who, after being recently released from prison, attempts to reconnect with her young daughter. Greeted by a fair share of resistance upon her arrival, Kenna had to pull herself up from her bootstraps to make a new life for herself and prove to the world that she has changed and is worthy to see her daughter. However, in order to truly move forward, she would have to confront her past mistakes, the biggest one being behind the wheel of the car in a tragic incident that cost the life of her fiancé Scotty (Pankow). Sent to prison for her part in the accident, his parents, Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford), became the caretakers of Scotty and Kenna’s daughter after she lost her parental rights. Having since moved on, Kenna’s return disrupted that balance, leaving Scotty’s parents a bit on edge as they still held Kenna responsible for their son’s death and wanted to protect their granddaughter Diem (Zoe Kosovic) from the truth. Meanwhile, the only person seemingly on her side was Ledger (Withers), a local bar owner that just happened to be Scotty’s best friend.

Falling for him, neither were aware of who the other really was, but it was only a matter of time until Ledger discovered that the woman he met by chance was the person allegedly responsible for the death of his best friend. An aspiring football player that we go on to a playing career, he life was also turned upside down by Scotty’s death. Friends since childhood, the older they got, the more Ledger was out of the picture as he pursued his football career. Not being there, guilt consumed him as he came back home to help take care of Diem, becoming a de facto uncle to the now 5-year-old. With Kenna back in town, he, as well as Grace and Patrick, had to reconcile their feelings about her. On the other hand, rejoining the real world with a criminal record made it difficult for Kenna to get her life going again. Struggling to make ends meet, she kept fighting for the hope that she would one day get to see her daughter. While Grace and Patrick did not care much for her, Ledger noticed that effort as there was something about her that kept him coming back. Previous feelings for her aside, he saw someone who needed help, so he helped her.

Striking up a relationship unbeknownst to Grace and Patrick, living that double life became increasingly difficult for Ledger over time, as he and Kenna became more serious. Above all else, the elephant in the room, her daughter, was kind of inescapable. In spite of the inappropriate nature of their relationship, on paper, they persisted and of course, it could only remain under wraps for so long. As a form of therapy, Kenna had written a series of letters to Scotty in her collection of journals and it is through those letters that audiences begin to understand their relationship. Two people who clearly loved each other, they never got the chance to settle down and have a family. Eventually discovering Kenna and Ledger’s relationship, in the end, Scotty’s parents could only keep her away for so long from a young girl asking more and more about her birth mother. Not wanting to take her daughter away, though the temptation was there, Kenna just wanted to be part of Diem’s life. To that effect, the prototypical cinematic happy ending tied the proceedings in a convenient bow.

Delivering nothing that audiences haven’t seen before in countless other films, Reminders of Him reeks of tropes and clichés, all in a manufactured packaged made to elicit cheap emotion. Whether or not it does, and/or does it enough, is in the eye of the beholder but. it is difficult to ever take seriously as a story. Following a very similar path, that predictability factor eliminates the chance of generating any real genuine emotion. That being said, those expecting emotion from alternate sources, such as the writing, directing, or performances, will be left mostly empty-handed. While the direction does a decent job at putting everyone and everything in the right places, the boring and lifeless writing does not do the film any favors as Monroe and Withers go through scene after scene simply go through the motions. Banking on the charm of the two young and up-and-coming actors, it will definitely give the film some extra points for audiences, but their lack of chemistry kills the mood.

Only a select subset of audiences are going to remember Reminders of Him, the kind of film that will hit the right spot in the moment, at least until the next Collen Hoover adapted movie comes along.

still courtesy of Universal 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.