“It Ends With Us” Is A Surprisingly Subtle, Beautiful Melodrama About Breaking Generational Curses

The film follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively in her first starring role in several years), a florist in Boston who resents the abuse her father perpetuated on her mother. Lily meets Ryle (Justin Baldoni), a neurosurgeon who turns out to be the brother of Lily’s new best friend Allysa (Jenny Slate). It feels like happily ever after to Lily – until Lily runs into her first love Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), and he begins to question the way Ryle treats Lily. 

With the speculation about behind-the-scenes drama between stars Lively and Baldoni, it might feel like It Ends With Us is simply a star vehicle designed to get all the Gossip Girl girlies back into movie theater seats. But Lily Bloom is no Serena van der Woodsen, and It Ends With Us turns out to be a surprisingly delicate story about human relationships.

*Spoilers ahead*

The Haters Were Wrong – This Cast Is Perfect

When casting was first announced for It Ends With Us, the first of many controversies was ignited online when fans of the book claimed that Blake Lively was too old to play the role of Lily Bloom. In the novel, Lily is meant to be a 23-year-old woman – a far cry from Lively’s 36 years. But director Justin Baldoni reportedly told Entertainment Weekly, “I wanted women of all ages to be able to see themselves, and aging up the characters, I think, really helps it become a universal story, and it takes it out of the YA genre. I believed, from the beginning, that Blake Lively is aspirational to young women and would never be seen as too old once they saw the movie.”

Good call, Baldoni. Lively’s screen persona is carefully crafted to be what most young women want to see themselves as: effortlessly beautiful, instantly charming, feminine yet independent. By casting Lively as Lily Bloom, It Ends With Us becomes a kind of everyman story about how easily women can fall into unhealthy relationships. But the strength of Lively’s performance is in the way she subtly lets us past that persona. A lesser actress would have overacted the more emotional moments of the film, such as when Lily discovers she is pregnant. But Lively chooses instead to share her vulnerability and fear chiefly with her eyes, which Baldoni’s direction consistently guides our gaze toward. She never says that she’s afraid, but if we’re paying attention, we don’t need her to.

Whether they’re feuding off-screen or not, Lively and Baldoni have an incredible chemistry on-screen. Baldoni has achieved a fine emotional balance between making troubled Ryle a heartthrob we can genuinely fall for, just as Lily does, while still revealing the darker side of Ryle’s character. Baldoni makes Ryle loveable without ever making his abuse seem excusable. The way Baldoni and Lively navigate the film's most difficult scenes, when Ryle begins and continues his abuse, is both subtle and emotionally honest, and it tells the tragedy of abusive relationships without buying into common film stereotypes.

The film is rounded out by a strong supporting cast, including Brandon Sklenar as Lily’s long lost first love Atlas. Sklenar specializes in roles of silent, confident, masculine men (his Spencer Dutton is currently one of my favorite guys on television), and he brings a very different kind of masculine energy to the film. Comedienne Jenny Slate shows some real acting chops as Lily’s best friend and Ryle’s sister, bringing much needed comedic relief and real dramatic gravitas to the moment when she hears what no woman ever wants to – that her brother is abusive. Along with newcomer Isabela Ferrer’s spookily spot-on performance as Young Lily, It Ends With Us is able to tell its story primarily through the strength of its cast.

A Clunky Script Doesn’t Serve the Story, But Lily Bloom’s Bulky Fashion Sure Does

Adapted for the screen by upcoming screenwriter and director Christy Hall, It Ends With Us has striven to be as straightforward an adaptation of the beloved novel as possible. The film frequently lifts conversations directly from the pages of the novel, and it includes visual nods to elements of the story (like Lily’s love for The Ellen Show) when not. Ryle’s bad-boy personality has been toned down in the screenplay, but in general, the script is a literal adaptation which only the most diehard of novel fans will be able to find issues with. 

The problem with this approach, however, is that some of Hoover’s dialogue doesn’t translate very well to the screen. Because the dialogue doesn’t always flow naturally, some crucial scenes seem disjointed as we watch them play out on screen. When Allysa and Lily first become friends, for example, the scene tries to preserve the original words of the novel, but it doesn’t feel natural to the actors, or us, and it artificially slows the film’s pace of action. 

What the film lacks in verbal finesse, however, it gains in the visual symbolism of Lily’s wild costumes. Lively – Queen Bee of the Met Gala – no doubt had a large hand in designing Lily’s unique personal style, which is dominated by bulky corduroys and broad-shouldered jackets several sizes too large. It’s as if the outer layer of Lily’s outfits is designed to take up extra space, like a defense mechanism against the world.

It’s significant that underneath the broad, bulky space-taking outer layer of her costumes, a crop top is frequently peaking out beneath. Lily’s outfits come in layers, just as her layered history is the story of the film. Under the loud defense mechanism of her outer layer, her costume indicates a desire to be vulnerable – to share her “naked truths” about her past. Neither Lively nor Ferrer has to act aloof and defensive; their costumes make it clear that Lily is a complex, many layered character with a bit of a protective shell who is longing, underneath it all, to be truly vulnerable with the people she loves.  

The Naked Truth About Generational Curses

In It Ends With Us, Ryle and Lily begin exchanging “naked truths” during their meetcute on the rooftop of his building (this is metaphorical – they’re sharing secrets no one else knows). It’s an important theme throughout the film, from the moment Lily leaves her father’s funeral to her final scene with Ryle in the hospital. The story’s message is clear from the get-go: Being able to tell the truth about abuse is hard, but without telling the truth, you can’t ever break the cycle.

But though It Ends With Us is a film about breaking generational curses, it avoids the one big mistake most stories of its kind make: It never blames the family members who didn’t break it. At the beginning of the film, Lily resents the way her mother always hid her husband’s abuse. She avoids spending time with her mother and doesn’t even invite her to her (albeit sudden) wedding to Ryle. Lily seems to think that by limiting her contact with her mother, she will make different choices in her own life.

But when Lily finds herself perpetuating the pattern of abuse, she recognizes her own hubris. The experience draws Lily closer to her mother, whom she can finally ask without judgment: “Why didn’t you leave him?” Lily may be the first to “break the pattern,” as the film’s logline indicates, but Lily does not break that pattern alone. As Lily chooses to break the pattern of abuse, her mother is there every step of the way – helping to build baby furniture, watching little Emmy when Lily goes off to work. Breaking the pattern brings them closer together, not further apart.

It’s an important message to a generation at once more prone to cutting off ties with anyone they deem toxic and obsessed with finding the causes of their problems. The naked truth about breaking generational curses in It Ends With Us is not about finding the right person to blame – it’s about choosing to be the first person to make the right decision.

Closing Thoughts

It Ends With Us is a faithful adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s beloved novel, almost at the cost of its own artistry. The film has surprisingly nuanced performances by its cast, especially the film’s two primary stars. Once the Instagram drama and press conferences have died down, It Ends With Us will remain a surprisingly subtle, beautiful melodrama.

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