Trailer for “It Ends with Us”: Blake Lively plays the lead role in the new film
Blake Lively is in a toxic relationship in the romantic drama “It Ends with Us,” based on the successful 2016 book by Colleen Hoover.
Spoiler alert! The following story contains important plot details about “It Ends with Us”” Book and film (now in theaters).
Blake Lively is back on the big screen.
The Deadpool & Wolverine actress plays her first leading role in four years in It Ends with Us, the highly anticipated adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel. Like the book, the film follows a flower shop owner named Lily Blossom Bloom (Lively) who falls in love with a dashing neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) and reconnects with her stoic childhood sweetheart Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar). The romantic drama also features a star-studded supporting cast, including Jenny Slate as Ryle’s sister Allysa and Hasan Minhaj as his brother-in-law Marshall.
The heartbreaking film, directed by Baldoni, is a largely faithful retelling of Hoover’s book and tackles the insidious nature of domestic violence and cycles of abuse across generations. Here are some of the biggest changes from page to screen:
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What is the biggest difference between the book and the movie “It Ends with Us”?
Perhaps the most significant difference between the book and the film is how Lily perceives Ryle’s abuse. Through a series of quick cuts and deceptive camera angles, the film plays on Lily’s insecurities: Did Ryle really mean to hit her after burning her hand, or was it just an accident? Did Lily just slip on the stairs during an argument, or did Ryle push her on purpose? Lily is in constant denial until a disturbing montage in the final third of the film shows her husband’s abuse as it really happened.
But in the book, Lily doesn’t gradually become aware of Ryle’s wrongdoing. Instead, she confronts him after each incident and warns him that she will leave him if he mistreats her again. After her violent fall, she initially tries to leave him, but then decides to forgive Ryle, who is traumatized by his brother’s death. She believes there is some good in him and that he can still change. But when Ryle later tries to rape her and she ends up in the hospital, Lily decides she’s had enough.
Does the novel end differently than the film?
The book describes Lily’s separation from Ryle when he flees to Europe for three months and she confronts him when he returns. (“I wish this baby wasn’t yours,” Lily says angrily after he shows up at her apartment unannounced.) They eventually agree to divorce, and the novel ends with a scene in which Ryle and Lily amicably care for the children, just before she rekindles her flame with Atlas.
The film ends on a similarly romantic note, when Atlas and Lily meet at a farmer’s market and decide to give love another chance. But the film also offers much-needed closure for Lily and her mother Jenny (Amy Morton). Jenny has endured her husband’s abuse throughout her life, and Lily, full of resentment, tried but failed to deliver a eulogy for her father at his funeral.
Towards the end of the film, Lily and Jenny, along with Lily’s young daughter Emerson, visit their father’s grave. After Lily leaves her empty condolence notes on his tombstone, the Bloom family embrace and walk away. It’s a poignant moment for the three generations of women, signaling a new beginning as they put their trauma behind them.
Does Ellen DeGeneres have a cameo in “It Ends with Us”?
If you haven’t read It Ends with Us, you can’t imagine how big a role Ellen DeGeneres plays in the story. (Yes, really.) In the book, young Lily recounts her entire childhood in a series of journal entries addressed to the former talk show host. Lily and Atlas also remind each other to “just keep swimming” – a hopeful mantra of DeGeneres’ Finding Nemo character Dory. As an adult, Atlas even gives Lily a signed copy of DeGeneres’ memoir: “Seriously… I’m just kidding.”
The film wisely forgoes the whole DeGeneres conceit. The comedian’s reputation has been tarnished since the release of It Ends with Us in 2016, and her talk show fizzled out in scandal in 2022. Instead, Lily and Atlas’ relationship during high school is now told in a series of straightforward flashbacks.
Nevertheless, there is a DeGeneres Easter egg in the film: When Atlas comes to Lily’s house for the first time, she is sitting on the couch watching the “Ellen DeGeneres Show”.
Which book characters do not appear in the film?
In order to get the story from the page to the screen, a number of memorable characters were cut along the way. The film cuts out Devin, Lily’s gay best friend who makes Ryle jealous by pretending to be her boyfriend. Nor is Lucy, Lily’s former roommate who ends up working in her flower shop. Ryle’s mother and father are also absent from the film: instead of getting engaged in his parents’ apartment, Ryle now proposes to Lily in Allysa’s hospital room shortly after the birth of their child. (Sorry, but did he really have to steal his sister’s show like that?)
How old are Lily (Blake Lively) and Ryle (Justin Baldoni)?
Fans of It Ends with Us were initially upset about Lively’s casting. After all, Lily is described in the book as “red-haired and fair-skinned,” while Lively is clearly blonde (a fact the film barely conceals). Additionally, Lily is 23 and Ryle is 30 at the beginning of the novel, while in the film both characters are in their mid-30s.
Baldoni and Hoover recently defended the aging of the characters, saying it would naturally take a long time for Ryle to be a well-known, board-certified neurosurgeon. They also wanted Lily to be a person with life experience who would be comfortable and confident when she met Ryle.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Why didn’t you just leave? Why did she stay?'” Baldoni told Variety magazine last month. “We know that women of all ages are abused. But it also happens to powerful women. It happens to very strong women. It happens to wealthy women.”
Domestic Violence Resources: How to Get Help
If you are a victim of domestic violence, National hotline for domestic violence cases allows you to speak confidentially with trained advocates online or by phone. This is recommended for those who believe their online activities are being monitored by their abuser (800-799-7233). They can help survivors develop a plan to achieve safety for themselves and their children.
Safe horizons The hotline offers crisis counseling, safety planning and assistance with finding shelter: 1(800) 621-HOPE (4673). It also has a chat feature that allows you to request help confidentially from a computer or phone.
Survivors can also call the New York City Anti-violence projects 24/7 Helpline in English/Spanish at 212-714-1141 for assistance. If calling is not secure but email is possible, visit avp.org/get-help and leave secure contact information and someone will get back to you.
