There are different types of abuse - physical, mental, and emotional - and often the abuse is at the hands of someone we know and love. Abuse is also more common than one might think. Odds are, if you have not been in an abusive relationship, then you know someone who has. It could be a friend, a sibling, a parent, a co-worker, etc., and whether or not it is talked about, it is still there.
For Lily Blossom Bloom (Blake Lively; The Age of Adaline), the abuse was there, in her home, from the time she was a little girl. The romantic novel, It Ends with Us, is author Colleen Hoover's story of growing up in such a home. The film adaptation comes to theaters this week.
Lily grew up in a small town in Maine and returns for her father's funeral. While there, she relives her upbringing, watching her father beat her mother. Lily also is reminded of Atlas (Brandon Sklenar; 1923), a homeless teenager who becomes her first love. When Lily returns to Boston, with dreams of opening her own flower shop, she comes across Ryle Kinkaid (Justin Baldoni; Jane the Virgin), a neurosurgeon who is interested in nothing more than sleeping with Lily.
As Lily realizes her dream and opens her shop, Ryle keeps showing up, and the two eventually date, fall in love, and get married. However, when Lily laughs at Ryle when he hurts his hand, he becomes so angry that he hits her. The next day at dinner, at Atlas' restaurant, Atlas, who has coincidentally reappeared recently, notices the bruise and fights with Lily, pointing out Lily is following the same pattern as her mother. After a few more "accidents", a pregnant Lily realizes she has to leave Ryle and tells him she wants a divorce.
Lively is an excellent choice to portray Lily because, while she seems outwardly strong and independent, she makes excuses for Ryle's behavior or takes the blame for his violence. Sklenar seems to have the temperament to play the sensitive and kindhearted Atlas, and Baldoni does a terrific job as the loving boyfriend/husband who has emotionally violent outbursts. The viewer can see the quick change of his expression as his normally mild demeanor instantly snaps into an almost maniacal anger. Jenny Slate (Gifted) and Hasan Minhaj (Babes) round out this cast playing Ryle's sister and brother-in-law.
Baldoni also directs but is less capable in this role. He tends to fall back on usual tropes like a closeup of the music box in Lily's room or the obligatory, extremely wide shot, establishing a shot of Lily driving through the New England countryside as the leaves are changing colors on the trees. While both are beautiful, I don't know that they are necessary. He also utilized an eclectic grouping of songs that did not serve the scenes well. It also seems as if Lily and Ryle's abuse scenes are somewhat glossed over and don't give the audience the full sense of his violent attacks.
Despite its shortcomings, It Ends With Us is a movie everyone should see because, even though it is less violent than many other movies about abuse, it seems to evoke strong reactions from the audience, at least it did with the one with which I saw the movie. It also depicts a woman breaking a cycle of violence because, even though she loves her husband, she can't have her daughter grow up the way she did. Finally, it can help victims to see they aren't alone, as well as, start a dialogue between family and friends to help break the cycle of those being abused.
Grade: B-
