After dominating BookTok, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, It Ends With Us, is finally headed to the big screen.
The story follows Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, the owner of a flower shop struggling to grapple with her dark past while building a future for herself in Boston. There, she falls for Ryle Kincaid (played by director Justin Baldoni), a handsome a neurosurgeon, but things begin to sour when Lily realizes she might be caught in a cycle of abuse. Although her love with Ryle runs deep, she finds herself facing a difficult decision, especially when her first love, Atlas (Brendan Skenlar) re-enters her life.
Lively spoke about taking on the role of Lily, telling Access Hollywood that she’s “a walking-talking contradiction, yet it’s perfectly harmonious for her.” But because she’s so multifaceted, “you really feel everything she feels,” Lively added.
Baldoni was moved by the book after his agent first gave it to him in 2019. “It was sexy, and it was romantic and mysterious. By the end, I was sobbing real snot tears,” he explained to Variety.
His vision for the film required aging up the characters, which upset some fans of the book. (In the novel, Lily is supposed to be just out of college.) In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Baldoni explained, “I just knew from the beginning the type of movie I wanted to make was not about a 23-year-old girl. 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 by aging Lily, Baldoni wanted to prove that it wasn’t simple naivety or romantic inexperience that led her to Ryle, and that abuse can happen to anyone regardless of their age, status, or experience. He also aimed to subvert stereotypes with Ryle’s character, telling Variety, “He’s not this mustache-twirling bad guy; he’s a guy with deep pain and deep trauma who makes terrible decisions that are never acceptable or excusable in any situation.”
When will the film be streaming?
It Ends with Us is now playing in theaters, as of August 9. It does not have a streaming date yet, but it will most likely head to Netflix first because of the streamer’s partnership with Sony.
Talia Levine is a Features Intern for ELLE Magazine. She is an undergraduate at Brown University where she studies International and Public Affairs and is a Varsity Division 1 Athlete.