Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s recent release, It Ends With Us, has arrived in theaters and is gaining massive popularity across the world. Based on Colleen Hoover’s hit book of the same name, the movie adaptation portrays a woman, Lily Bloom, who watched her mother getting abused in childhood and never wants to live in the same situation. However, after her father’s funeral, she meets a neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid, and feels an instant attraction, and meets him months later when she unknowingly hires Kyle’s sister at her flower shop.
When Ryle flirts with Lily and pushes her boundaries, he comes onto her despite her asking him to stop. Eventually he wears her off and they begin a relationship. Though it starts well, Ryle’s abusive behavior soon surfaces. Lily is unaware of the severity of the situation until she reconnects with her childhood love, Atlas, who quickly recognizes signs of domestic violence. After Ryle attempts to rape Lily, she ends up in a hospital, where she discovers she’s pregnant. This revelation brings an emotional and hopeful ending to It Ends With US.
Why Does Lily Leave Ryle In It Ends With Us?
The two most powerful moments in It Ends With Us are when Lily physically leaves Ryle after he tries to rape her and when she mentally leaves him after asking for a divorce. Her decision to leave him physically was because of fear for her life, but she later decides not to go back to him, leaving him mentally because of her daughter. Even though Lily still loves Ryle, she realizes that her daughter is her priority and she wants to give a better life to her than she had.
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On top of everything, Lily is well aware of the emotional and physical abuse as her mother went through. Moreover, one of her devastating moments in It Ends With Us is when she breaks down to Atlas about how she wasn’t supposed to become her mother. Despite once believing that she was too smart to end up in an abusive relationship, she didn’t realize that intelligence had little to do with it. Her past experiences with her father desensitized her to the warning signs, and she couldn’t see them with Ryle.
Despite everything Lily faced, leaving Ryle was a courageous step, especially since the most dangerous time for domestic violence victims is when they try to leave. In It Ends With Us, Lily’s decision to divorce Ryle was made in a public setting, reducing the risk of him attacking her. However, unlike in the books, the film shows her not maintaining a co-parenting relationship, which better protects her child.
How Is It Ends With Us Ending Different From The Books?
The ending of It Ends With Us movie has two big changes from the book. First, the movie shows the time between Lily giving birth and her meeting Atlas again. During this time, Lily becomes more joyful and vibrant; the way she acts when she is with Ryle, and her once-empty expression returns to the lively and expressive one she had earlier in the film. This addition emphasizes that life after abuse can be fulfilling, and although the trauma remains, it doesn’t have to define one’s future.
Secondly, the ending of the movie adaptation featured Lily raising Emerson alone rather than co-parenting with Ryle. This significant change from the books offers hope to people that escaping their abusers can allow them to give their children a better life. Instead of relying on Ryle, Lily’s mom and eventually Atlas becomes her support system. By the end of It Ends With Us, Lily is focusing on giving her daughter the life that she wanted.
It Ends with Us is getting A Prequel
Following the successful release of the first chapter from Hoover’s novel, Baldoni is nominating Lively for directing the prequel film, given their ongoing rift. The actor shared with Entertainment Tonight, “I think that there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct, that’s what I think.”
During his appearance on TODAY show, Baldoni also reflected on how directing It Ends With Us was an “extreme challenge”, and credited Lively for her contribution to the movie. He added, “You can’t summarize Blake’s contribution in a sentence, because her energy and imprint is all over the movie and really, really made the film better, and from beginning to end.” Baldoni revealed that Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds also helped out in the making of It Ends With Us.
It Ends With Us is running in theaters.
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