"It Ends With Us" - A Movie Review

The shallowness of the modern day dating scene is on full display in "It Ends With Us". A movie based on The New York Times bestselling book by Texas native, Colleen Hoover. Although Hoover describes the romantic drama as the hardest book she has ever written, since she touches on the deeply personal theme of domestic violence, the plot of the film actually comes across as a very formulaic Hallmark movie with darker overtones and better acting.

That being said, the motion picture is on pace to becoming the biggest female-driven event title of the 2024 movie season. With it crossing $200 million in sales in the global box office. And that is prior to the movie being released in several international markets.

The protagonist of the movie, Lily Blossom, is very adeptly portrayed by Blake Lively. A California native who has grown up in the Hollywood entertainment industry and whose parents took her to the acting classes they taught when she was but a child. As they did not wish to leave her with a babysitter. This early childhood exposure to acting has served Blake Lively well as she skillfully conveys multi-layered emotions in her portrayal of the often conflicted, Lily

Blossom.

In the film, Lily Blossom seemingly comes from the perfect home. Her father is a highly respected mayor in her community who manifests success. And she grows up in a comfortable upper middle class community in a lovely town in Maine. As is sometimes the case in those outwardly perfect appearing homes, Blossom's family harbors a secret - her father beats her mother behind closed doors. And growing up witnessing such trauma, Lily Blossom vows she

will not turn into her mother when she grows up.

However, mother nature often plays tricks on people who wish to break the family cycle of abuse, and after her father passes away, Lily Blossom meets a handsome neurosurgeon who unabashedly professes his physical attraction to her. Right away from their first encounter, there are tell-tale signs that this neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid, has a violent temper. Since he furiously kicks a chair on the upper terrace of his apartment building when they meet. But, Cupid's arrow tends to blind people when they first feel its hallucinogenic effects, and Lily overlooks this crucial sign. Professing to him that she's the type of girl one takes home to their mother, but at the same time, indicating that she would like to be physically intimate with him.

It is this lust-based relationship between Lily and Ryle that forms the bulk of the two hours and eleven minutes long PG -13 but adult themed movie. As when it does finally reach the climax that provides a redeeming aspect to the plot, it hastily rushes through the important events that enable Lily to finally decide to break the cycle of abuse that has been present in her family for multiple generations. For when she gives birth to her daughter, Lily realizes that she does not want her little "Emmie" to grow up in the same abusive household that she did. Thankfully for Lily, her first high school love, Atlas, has opened up a successful restaurant in Boston after serving in the Marines, and is not attached to anyone else.

While "It Ends With Us" is an imperfect movie, it still captivates the audience with its realistic portrayal of domestic violence abuse victims. And with Lily Blossom making the decision on her own to break the cycle of abuse, it does have an empowering message which manifests itself at the very end. In short, "It Ends With Us" makes for an evening out when there is nothing else but alien themed and despicable me themed movies showing at the movie theater.

Luisa Reyes is an attorney in Tuscaloosa with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Judson, a master's degree in library science, and a law degree from Samford's Cumberland School of Law. She is also a piano instructor and vocalist