It Ends With Us Movie Review

“It Ends With Us” is about abuse inside the family — domestic violence — and shows that you can make it stop. Refuse to be a victim and stand up to the abuser. If it just didn’t lean into the ‘cutesy’ initial romance and the unrealistic situations — you might think the movie was saying something important…

 

The story begins with a woman named Lily Bloom (played by Blake Lively). Ms. Bloom decides to move to Boston from her parent’s home in Maine. Her father had just died, and he was very well-respected in that little town. Lily, of course, had a different opinion of the man.

 

To the public, he was an upstanding member of community. But behind the walls of the house — he was a cruel and spiteful man. He always abused her mother and once badly beat up Lily’s High School boyfriend. High School Lily (played by Isabela Ferrer) made a close friend with boy who lived in an abandoned home next door.

 

That boy next door was High School Atlas (played by Alex Neustaedter), and he did not want to live at home. He had an abusive father, also. He had a huge crush on young Lily, and they spent much time together. Lily and Atlas consummated this relationship.

 

But her father broke into her room. That is where he nearly beat Atlas senseless. After Atlas recovered, he left High School to join the Military — anything to get far away. Lily was heartbroken, but could not change any of it.

 

At her father’s funeral, Lily walks out with nothing to say about him. She leaves Maine to head to Boston. She is able to lease out a small store front and open a business. Of course, in keeping with her name — she opens a flower shop. How surprising!

 

How exactly she is able to afford a place like this and open a shop is not explained. She spends time fixing up the place. At night, she gets into some fancy upscale apartment and condo buildings. One night, while looking over the Boston Harbor, she gets interrupted…

 

Some guy comes through the door and violently kicks a chair up on the patio. He then notices Lily over on the roof, and he looks sheepishly at her. He says his name is Ryle Kincaid (played by Justin Baldoni). He was sorry he lost his temper, but he just got some bad news. He lost someone today.

 

It turns out that Ryle is a neurosurgeon at the Boston Hospital. There was a young boy whom he operated on earlier, but he didn’t make it. Lily and Ryle smooth things out and they both get a little flirty under the stars. But his beeper calls him away on a new emergency.

 

Lily was quite impressed with this guy, especially when he did prove that he was a doctor. It’s just too bad that she will never see Ryle again, right? In a few days, Lily is working at her flower shop, getting it ready to open. In walks a lady who lives in the area, and she was interested in what was going on in here.

 

She says her name is Allysa (played by Jenny Slate) and she would like to work for Lily. Quite by accident, Lily has found her first employee. Allysa says that her husband and her brother are at a bar down the street. The game they are watching is over and they will by to meet up with Allysa.

 

Her husband comes in to see Allysa. His name is Marshall (played by Hasan Minhaj). He is independently wealthy by being a day trader. So he likes that Allysa has found a job that is close by and where she can work with a friend. Allysa also has her brother enter the flower shop. Of course, it is Ryle — the same guy that Lily met just recently on the rooftop. Their eyes meet — and it is intense ‘like at first sight’.

 

Ryle and Lily begin to date more and more. Lily’s mother comes to visit from Maine. Lily and Ryle take her out to a very popular new restaurant. This place as it turns out — it is owned and run by an old friend of Lily’s. Atlas Corrigan (played by Brandon Sklenar) is the same guy that Lily had a crush on during High School. He is out of the Military and running a business of his own. The reunion is quite awkward for Lily, because Ryle is also there.

 

Allysa and Marshall are about to have a baby. Lily and Ryle are thrilled. Then at the hospital, Ryle proposes to Lily. The get married, and Lily is now Allysa’s boss and sister-in-law. Now that feels a little weird, but they work it out. Ryle seems to be great, and one day he is working to prepare a big breakfast for the both of them.

 

The dish in the stove is in there too long, and it starts burning. Ryle goes to grab it, and Lily is right there. But Ryle moves to one side with a hot dish and he bonks Lily right on the face. She ends up with a black eye and bruised lip.

 

 

Lily happens to go to restaurant with Ryle in the next couple of days. Atlas confronts Lily about the bruising. If Ryle is not behaving, he will take matters into his own hands. Ryle sees them talking and gets into a scuffle with Atlas. Lily tells him there is nothing he can do about it, and Atlas backs down.

 

Atlas secretly gives Lily his phone number on a card in her phone case. Things seem to get back to normal. But one day Ryle finds the phone number on the card. They get into a shouting match. Lily runs over to the stairs, and Ryle catches up. Lily falls down the stars and needs to get stitches.

 

Things are now very uneven between Lily and Ryle. She thinks she can sense some of the same undercurrent of rage that she saw in her father. She is not sure about what she should do next. A magazine article comes out about local business. Lily’s flower shop and the restaurant run by Atlas are both featured it in there.

 

There are some juicy quotes from Atlas about how he was really in love with a girl during High School, and how they were in love back then. Also, Atlas hopes they might still be in love now.

 

This triggers more pain in Ryle. He attempts to assault Lily, and she continues to tell him to stop. He finally does relent, and she flees. She heads over the restaurant and finds Atlas. He is there, as always, to help Lily out of a bad situation. She finds out she is pregnant with Ryle’s child.

 

That is another complication with this whole thing. She really does not want to live life as her mother did — where she was in constant fear of her husband. She would not know if his anger would get out of control. When that happened — her mother would feel the consequences.

 

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“It Ends With Us” is a dramatic look at what can happen when a tragic habit is learned and passed on to new generations. This movie is based on a popular novel of the same name. It wants to be an important movie about a serious subject. But it was made in a very unserious way. Perhaps much of this is based on how the book was written.

 

If it just didn’t lean into the ‘cutesy’ initial romance and the unrealistic situations — you might think the movie was saying something important. But it is bogged down with the odd names. “Lily Bloom” – the one who loves flowers. “Ryle” – the one with anger issues that you don’t want to ‘rile’ up. “Atlas” – the one who is steadfast, silent and strong.

 

It suffers from the “Friends Syndrome”, where beautiful people can wear beautiful clothes and live in beautiful locations. But it rarely shows the day-to-day struggle of owning a business, or the amount of time doctor would really spend at the hospital. It exists in a fun fantasy world of the romance novel.

 

The acting is all really good for the characters as they written. Blake Lively does a nice job being the pretty little one who will not be trampled on. Jenny Slate is always a joy to watch as the slightly goofy best friend. Justin Baldoni is also good as the doctor who might not be able to control his temper. He is also the Director of this movie.

 

“It Ends With Us” wants to be an ‘Important Movie’ about a ‘Difficult Subject’. But there are too many unserious moments to allow you to take it seriously.