dir. Justin Baldoni
“The roots are the most important part of the plant.” “Really?” “Yeah.” “I didn’t know that about roots. That’s cool.” This bizarre, contrived dialogue, which is meant to be taken completely seriously, pretty much sums up the entire experience of watching It Ends with Us, the domestic abuse drama adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel. Lily Blossom Bloom (Blake Lively) is a florist, and the movie’s attempt to mock this nominative determinism doesn’t make it any less ridiculous to witness. The story charts her relationship with the equally idiotically named Ryle Siegfried Kincaid (Justin Baldoni, also directing), a charming neurosurgeon with violent tendencies. Will Lily find solace in her rekindled relationship with old boyfriend Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar)? Who cares? Every single character, despite their cartoony names, is so utterly one dimensional there’s nothing to feel invested in. Like the novel, the film is supposed to confront the horrors of domestic abuse and explore how a woman can escape such a hell. But the script is so hackneyed and simplistic, it does a better job of commodifying abuse than exposing it. Ranging from goofy to downright insulting, It Ends with Us would’ve been better off ending before it started.
BMDb 