Colleen Hoover’s viral novel, “It Ends With Us”, received a highly-anticipated movie adaptation, released Aug. 9, 2024. It grossed 80 million dollars on a 25 million dollar budget, making it a box office hit. Earning many mixed reviews from its loyal fanbase, it created a lot of controversy surrounding its original message about being in a relationship with domestic violence, and the message the actors of the movie wished to portray which seemed to be more about style and hair.
The story revolves around Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, and her rollercoaster relationship with Ryle Kincaid, played by the director of the movie, Justin Baldoni. Lily falls for Ryle after a chance rooftop meeting, deciding, despite their extreme chemistry, to not stay in contact after he leaves. When they serendipitously meet again, they give their relationship a chance, but it ends up turning into an upsetting story about domestic violence.
The movie, while keeping the main idea similar, leaves the viewer missing a lot of important themes and moments that were included in the novel. Fans have criticized the absence of Lily’s obsession with Ellen DeGeneres and Dory, citing how it helped Lily deal with her troubled childhood as the daughter of an abusive husband.
Another large critique of the film revolves around how it seems to be “focused” on Lily’s fashion choices, instead of the main point which is supposed to be spreading awareness about domestic violence.
It was not all bad, though. Lively’s portrayal of Lily Bloom was near perfect to the version of Lily readers originally fell in love with; strong and independent. Baldoni portrayed Ryle exceptionally well. He said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that after he finished reading the book he felt it “needed to be adapted”, and viewers could tell how much he cared as a director and an actor. His random outbursts of anger, then suddenly caring personality, really shows why it was so hard for Lily to make a decision to stay or leave the toxic relationship, mirroring many domestic violence cases that happen in the real world.
There has also been a lot of drama and backlash surrounding the media promotions of the movie. Lively has been heavily criticized for her borderline childish behavior, insulting her interviewers and promoting her husband’s movie – “Deadpool and Wolverine” – over her own.
Throughout all of the ups and downs and the drama, the movie scored itself a 6.7 on IMDb and a 57 percent on rotten tomatoes. Although highly anticipated, it’s safe to say this movie earned its cash in the box office but for fans came out to be a flop.
