Netflix has added yet another book-to-screen adaptation to its library, and since those are known for getting a conversation about accuracy started, the streaming platform’s latest well-known adaptation has kicked off a whirlwind of emotions among fans and critics alike.
It Ends With Us, which was released on August 9 and directed byJustin Baldoni, is based on the best-selling novel of the same name.Written by the Queen of Booktok, Colleen Hoover, it should come as no surprise that there are many different opinions, and some viewers might even find themselves surprised by some aspects of the movie, including the ending.
It Ends With Us
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
It Ends With Usbrings the story of a young woman named Lily Bloom, who is portrayed by Blake Lively, to the screen. After losing contact with her first boyfriend due to her abusive father, Lily goes on to fulfill her dream of opening her own flower shop.
During an unexpected encounter, she meets Ryle and starts a relationship with him. While, at first, the two lead a happy life and even get married, their relationship suddenly turns sinister as Ryle’s abusive behavior comes to light.
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What Is the Overall Message In It Ends With Us?
It Ends With Usis certainly based on a strong romantic foundation, but it ultimately renders a much darker and also more important story. Fully diving into the painful realities of domestic violence,the movie makes it a point to highlight the difficulties of being stuck in an abusive relationship, while also showing the strength it takes to find a way out.
Telling the life story of Lily along two timelines, the movie lays out a foundation and concomitant deeper understanding of Lily’s life-long history with abuse. While she has witnessed her father’s violent behavior towards her mother over the course of many years, the grown-up Lily is caught in a similar situation when her husband reveals the same patterns.
It is only when she unexpectedly runs into her first love, Atlas, that she realizes how she is stuck in a generational cycle of domestic violence. Ultimately, it is her main goal to shed herself of her destructive past by cutting ties with her abusive husband and moving on towards a healthier relationship with herself, her daughter, and a possible future partner.
A Lightning Rod for Debate
Ever since the release of the novel in 2016,the depiction of Lily Bloom’s life has caused readers to question the author’s sensitivity to serious topics, and has left the novelsurrounded with controversy. The book, like the movie, is no stranger to heated debates, even though theIt Ends With Usmovie made some changescompared to the book,arguably managing to bring in a more feminist perspective.
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It Ends With Us Movie Ending, Explained
As opposed to the novel, in which Ryle and Lily apparently worked through the abuse in their relationship and Ryle continued to be a part of her and her daughter’s life, without the romantic aspect,the movie takes a different approach to how Lily’s life unfolded. However, it wasn’t entirely planned by the director to begin with.
At the beginning of her pregnancy, Lily indeed calls it quits with Ryle due to his abusive behavior. As the months pass by, she actively keeps a distance from her husband and only lets him visit when she is assembling her unborn daughter’s crib. He seemingly acts like a caring husband and father-to-be, but asTaylor Swift’s “My Tears Ricochet” adds a deeper meaningduring the montage, it becomes clear that Lily has made up her mind.
Ryle shows back up when Lily gives birth to their baby girl, and he does, once again, support her with everything he has. The abuser is hiding behind a facade, but as no one else in the room knows what is going on, Lily doesn’t let the bitter-sweetness of an allegedly happy family sway her.
Once the three are alone, Lily tells Ryle about wanting to name their daughter Emerson, or Emmy, which is the name of Ryle’s brother, who was tragically and accidentally killed by Ryle as a young child. Ryle, seemingly touched by the gesture, proceeds to hold his daughter and shares his desire to be there for both of them.
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A Massive Shift From the Source Material
What follows is the moment which marks a massive difference between the book and the movie. Baldoni explained inan interview with The Wrapthat following the lines of Hoover’s book triggered some discomfort in Baldoni, who was set on solving thecontroversy behindIt Ends With Us, as he felt as though it simply wasn’t the right move to let Ryle back in Lily’s life without spending enough time in the movie to explain the reasoning behind it.
While there was a conversation held about hinting at the fact that Ryle had gone to therapy and had worked on himself, the director couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough.Hence, the decision was made to cut ties with Ryle all together.Right there in the hospital room, Lily lets him know that she wants a divorce.
Her approach to doing so is extremely powerful, as she beautifully connects it to their daughter. She asks Ryle what he would say to their daughter if she came home and told him about her abusive husband. It is an empowering moment for Lily when he realizes that he is indeed an abuser, but at the same time, he would never want his own daughter to experience such violence. Ryle seemingly accepts his fate right then and there.
After a while, Lily is shown bumping into Atlas once again, and she explains to him that it is just her and her daughter anymore. There is no hint that Ryle was still in her life, which indicates that she really received full custody of their daughter and kept him out of their life. Additionally, when she asks him if he is seeing anyone, Atlas states that he isn’t dating anyone yet.
This is a massive hint at their possible future together, since he fundamentally states that he isn’t seeing anyone yet, but now that she is here, he is ready to do just that. While there is no proper conclusion to their love story, their short conversation holds a lot of meaning.
Ultimately, saying a final goodbye to Ryle just seconds after he first met his daughter initially seems like a drastic approach compared to the shared custody situation from the novel, but it really is a healthy and more feminist way to wrap up Lily and Ryle’s story. With Emmy’s birth,Lily has finally found the courage to break this generational cycle of abuse, and has ensured that they both have a chance to lead a happy life.
