It Ends With Us Review: A Stellar Tale Of Love, Loss, And Liberation

Being a guy, I was often mocked by my friends for reading Colleen Hoover books but the ones who have read them, know the very reason why I never stopped doing so. The suspense of Verity, the sweetness of Maybe Someday, and of course, the bitter-sweet nature of It Ends With Us, kept me hooked for as long as I remember. However, when I got to know that It Ends With Us is getting a movie adaptation, I just knew that I had to review this movie. So without wasting much time, let’s dive right into it.

So, What’s Happening in It Ends With Us

It Ends With Us brings to light the protagonist, Lily Blossom Bloom (Blake Lively) who moves back to Boston after the death of her abusive father. It is made clear that Lily has no soft corners for her father as she cannot think of five good things she loves about him. Soon after that, she sits on a rooftop and meets the charming and exceedingly handsome Neurosurgeon named Ryle Kinkaid (Justin Baldoni).

They both have a moment after a hilarious conversation but Ryle has to run because of a medical emergency. After a couple of months, Lily opens her very own flower shop and employs Allysa (Jenny Slate) to help her out but as it turns out, she is Ryle’s sister eventually, they start seeing each other and as time passes they start to date officially.

One fine day, Lily’s Mother (Amy Morton) is visiting her and she takes Ryle with her to meet her mom at a new restaurant “Roots” that has opened in the city. However, as they reach there, to Lily’s surprise the man who owns the restaurant is Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), her childhood love interest. She doesn’t think much about it but as things progress in the story and begins to realize that Ryle might not be what she thought him to be. Now, she has to make a difficult decision.

Is It Ends With Us Embraces Novel Accuracy

Well, the answer to how much novel accurate It Ends With Us is yes and no. While most of the basic plotlines of the movie and elements are exactly how it is in the novel, there are certain elements that are different from what we saw in the novel. For instance, Atlas’s restaurant in the novel was named Bib’s which stands for “Better in Boston”. When Ryle read Lily the paragraph about this restaurant, he said Atlas named his restaurant Bib’s as the phrase is connected to a woman who means a lot to him.

However, in the movie adaptation, the name of the restaurant has been changed to Roots and is related to something Lily said to Atlas when they were dating each other as teenagers. Other than that, there are minute changes here and there but nothing too significant. If I have to say exactly how much this movie is accurate to the novel, I’ll say it’s 95 percent there with 5 percent of creative liberty.

As I mentioned above, the movie stands strong on being accurate to its source material. While reading the novel, some moments made me feel a certain kind of way; the emotions of being scared, surprised, and confused, were portrayed brilliantly in the text and the movie has done it equally well. The part where Ryle attacks Lily or where he pushes her down the stairs is equally scary and sad in the movie as they are in the novel.

The feeling of surprise when Atlas shows up, out of nowhere is being transcended on the viewers as powerfully as it did on the readers of this text. Overall, if you have read the novel, you will feel the exact same way while watching the movie and if you have not, it makes no difference in the experience because of how well the storyline has been executed.

The Actors Embodied the Characters with Outmost Perfection

The biggest concern people had when this movie was announced was whether the cast would be able to carry out the characters how the readers of this novel imagined them and as it turns out, they did. Blake Lively brought the character of Lily to life as perfectly as it was possible meanwhile, Justin Baldoni, embodied Ryle in the best way possible. His character was charming and extremely good-looking. But in that character, from the very beginning, you can sense something off. If you have not read the novel, even after that you can sense that behind the charm and the good looks, there is something that will make you feel uneasy at times.

A lot of people had complaints about Brandon Sklenar playing Atlas since in their head, Atlas’s character was somewhat different than how Brandon Sklenar looks like. However, from my point of view, while Ryle’s character emits a sinister undertone, Atlas’s character emits a calm and safe aura from Lily’s perspective and Brandon Sklenar has done that part exceptionally well.

Overall, if you have read the novel you know what each of the characters represents but if you are someone who has not read the novel, you will not feel left out courtesy of the great performance given by the cast of It Ends With Us.

So, How Is It Ends With Us in an Essence

Coming to a judgment about this movie is slightly tricky since even though It Ends With Us has successfully captured the essence of the story, there are still some things in the cinematic approach that could have been better. First off, the costume design of the characters is somewhat over the top in some sequences of the movie while in some sequences it seems as if no focus has been given to them. The way the movie has been filmed is very basic and it seems like the cinematography we see on It End With Us has been done by an Inexperienced crew of cameramen. Other than that, the music score is good, the acting performances are brilliant and the story, even with some artistic liberties, is very well carried out.

If you are someone who is a fan of Colleen Hoover, this movie will not disappoint you as it contains every element and emotion you feel while reading the novel. Every aspect of the novel that you might have pictured in your brain has been perfectly put on the screen whether it be via acting or set creation.

On the other hand, if you are just someone who enjoys watching romantic-drama movies, trust me when I say it, this one is going to be perfect for you because even though it is made with inspiration from a novel, you don’t necessarily need to read it to understand and enjoy the movie. This is a commendable move by the team of It Ends With Us. Overall, it is a good movie and probably one of the best carried-out novel adaptations we have seen in a while.