“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
These are the exact words that come out of Lily Bloom’s mouth once she’s made a decision for her future using her own strength and courage.
Based on one of Colleen Hoover’s best-known novels, “It Ends with Us” is an astounding romance and drama that will leave you shaken. Directed by Justin Baldoni, “It Ends with Us” is filled with breathtaking shots replete with incredible costumes and scenery; it’s a feast for the eyes. The movie features iconic scenes of the Boston skyline and picturesque views of the small town of Plethora, the two places where the movie takes place. Each character has a very distinct and eye-catching style which reflects their personality. Each character additionally develops a very distinct personality through their body language, the way they speak and the way they act around others; the acting throughout the movie is very well done.
The movie opens with Lily Bloom traveling from her apartment in Boston to Plethora, Maine, where she grew up. Bloom, played with subtlety and emotional rawness by Blake Lively, is a compassionate and thoughtful young woman in her early twenties. Bloom goes to Plethora to attend her father’s funeral. Bloom, however, feels there is nothing good to remember about her father: he was a very cruel man who relentlessly abused his wife. Throughout Bloom’s childhood, she would see through her very own eyes how violent her father was and how her mother wasn’t psychologically strong enough to leave him. The horrors Bloom witnessed as a kid have left her angry at her father and have marked her with permanent scars, which have instituted a commitment inside of her to never fall into an abusive relationship.
When Bloom travels back to Boston, two things happen that make her feel like she is leaving her dark upbringing behind: she opens up a flower shop, and she meets the man of her dreams. Throughout Bloom’s life, gardening has been very important. As a child, escaping to her garden was an outlet; the garden was a refuge, a place where she could find comfort and escape from her parents’ fighting. When Bloom opens up her flower shop in downtown Boston, it’s a dream come true. Soon another dream comes true: Bloom meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. Played with lots of charm by Justin Baldoni, Kincaid is a stubborn yet pleasant man who completely comes out of his shell whenever he’s around Bloom. The two instantly fall in love, and Bloom feels happier than she’s ever been before.
As things are going great between Bloom and Kincaid, Bloom has a chance encounter with her first love, Atlas Corrigan. Corrigan, played with sensitivity and an air of mystery by Brandon Sklenar, is the owner and chef of a Boston restaurant. When Bloom was fifteen and Corrigan was eighteen, Bloom found Corrigan living by himself in an abandoned house behind hers. Bloom cared for Corrigan by letting him stay in her house while her parents weren’t around and by ensuring he was always well fed. Bloom and Corrigan eventually developed a romantic relationship, and after not hearing from Corrigan for almost a decade, Bloom is thrilled to see how well he is doing. With Corrigan in the picture again, Bloom starts wondering if she’s still in love with him.
Bloom and Kincaid eventually get married, and although the two of them have had the ideal relationship up to this point, Kincaid’s dark side begins to emerge. He behaves in ways that remind Bloom of her father, and she starts questioning if he actually is the man of her dreams. As Kincaid starts to act abusive towards Bloom, Bloom needs to make a choice for her future which requires great strength.
With strong performances and creative filmmaking, “It Ends with Us” shines a spotlight on abusive relationship dynamics that are all too pervasive in our society but are often hidden from view. “It Ends with Us” demonstrates the dangerous attractiveness of violent people, which passes an important message about the struggles of people who are bound up in abusive relationships and makes you strongly empathize with them. The movie also does a very good job depicting the complex psychological difficulties that can lead people to behave abusively. By digging deeper into why aggressive people act the way they do, the movie makes the audience understand abusive people better without justifying their actions in any way. Psychological aspects of the abusive relationship portrayed in the movie are quite realistic. This kind of relationship is in fact quite prevalent in society, and the film’s portrayal of abusive dynamics has the potential to change the audience’s perspective on a real-world social problem, as it makes you connect with the person being abused and also understand how the abuser came to be violent.
In its presentation of painful realities, the film is neither exaggerated nor understated. It fosters the audience’s deep emotional connection to the characters, exploring common feelings of uncertainty about who one loves and who one can really trust. Making the audience connect with all the characters in this movie by bringing to light the psychological complications of abusive relationships, “It Ends with Us” is ultimately a success and a must-watch.
