Blake Lively’s 2024 romance film can fix the biggest criticism of the book it is based on

This article contains major SPOILERS for the book “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover.

Despite criticism of Colleen Hoover’s It ends with usthe 2024 film adaptation starring Blake Lively could potentially fix the biggest problem, as there is one person involved in the project. Thanks to BookTok, Colleen Hoover has become one of the most popular romance authors in recent years. A film adaptation of her most controversial book, It ends with uswill be released on August 9, 2024. This book tells the harrowing story of a woman named Lily Bloom who enters an abusive relationship with a man named Ryle Kincaid. However, Simon & Schuster did not market the story that way.

It ends with us was advertised as a love triangle story, with a flowery cover and a description that seemed more like a frothy romantic comedy. Thankfully, the film took a different marketing approach and made its domestic violence storyline clear in the trailer. Still, the upcoming adaptation must grapple with a larger issue that readers had with Colleen Hoover’s book. Individuals began to criticize the controversial elements of It ends with us – especially the dangerous romanticization of abuse.

Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” received justified criticism for its portrayal of relationships

Despite the popularity of Colleen Hoover’s book, It ends with us received justified criticism for its portrayal of abusive relationships. The story borders on romanticization and idealizes the relationship between Lily and Ryle in several places. Lily’s connection to Atlas is almost something of an excuse for Ryle’s abuse, although Lily at least says in some dialogue that that doesn’t mean it’s okay. Furthermore, Hoover presents Ryle’s traumatic backstory in a way that dismisses his behavior.

Many of the problems are due to the way the book was written rather than the content. The story is told from Lily’s point of view, but lacks a strong, reflective voice – the narrative perspective that interprets past events from the present. The use of a reflective voice is beneficial for stories in which the thoughts and actions of the narrative perspective contradict the intended message. There are some moments of clarity within It ends with us where Hoover lays out how harmful and wrong Ryles’ actions are. However, the thoughtful voice is not used consistently and effectively, making it difficult to discern the book’s intentions.

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In addition, the last chapters of It ends with us were criticized for their portrayal of ending abusive relationships. Ryle respects her boundaries and gives her space by portraying him as the “good” abuser. Lily eventually decides to divorce Ryle, and he agrees without becoming angry or controlling. She then decides to enter into a co-parenting relationship with him, giving him unsupervised time with their daughter without him taking active steps to change. This lessens the emotional resonance of her decision to leave her.

The screenwriter of “It Ends With Us”’s previous projects prove that she can deal with the complaints about the book

Despite the understandable complaints about Colleen Hoover’s popular BookTok book, we don’t have to write off the upcoming film adaptation. The choice of screenwriter for the project gives hope that the film will remove the romanticization of domestic violence. Christy Hall may not have many screenwriters, but one of them has handled heavy subject matter beautifully.

I do not agree touches on mental illness, grief, bullying, sexuality and suicide. All of these topics can easily and unintentionally go wrong. However, Hall and her co-creator Jonathan Entwistle have handled all of these topics in a compassionate and nuanced way. When Christy Hall approaches It ends with us with the same care, The screenwriter is able to balance Lily’s mentality as a person in an abusive relationship with the larger themes and messages.

It is realistic that Lily ignores many warning signs and represses the abuse for a long time. It ends with us before she realizes how dangerous the situation is. Even then, she distances herself without actually taking the step to end their relationship. If it’s well-written, Lily’s rose-tinted glasses and fear don’t have to contradict the message that Ryle and Lily’s relationship is abusive, not romantic. Hopefully Christy Hall’s script and the rest of the creative team will fix the more damaging parts of the book.

The film adaptation of “It Ends With Us” should retain the book’s enduring themes

The reason why Lily stays with Ryle for so long

Changes are necessary if the cinema adaptation of It ends with us hopes to avoid the same criticism as the book, but that doesn’t mean the film has to abandon everything from the source material. The film needs to retain the timeless themes that resonate with victims of domestic violence.

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It would be stupid for It ends with us to remove any romantic moment between Ryle and Lily because there is a reason why abusers are so effective. Abusers do not display this behavior around or towards everyone. Despite all of his problems, Colleen Hoover It ends with us shows how Ryle goes through these phases of abuse towards Lily. It’s important that the film shows the different stages of abuse that keep people like Lily in these relationships. According to Psych Central, the typical stages in the cycle of domestic violence are as follows:

1. Voltage build-up:
   The violent partner shows signs of abuse and control, the intensity of which increases.
2. Incident:
   The violent partner commits an act of physical, sexual or emotional violence.
3. Reconciliation:
   The tension dissolves and the abusive partner takes steps to win the abused person back on their side. These could include apologies, gifts, affection, and extra attention.
4. Quiet:
   The abusive partner switches from excuses to excuses and justifications for the abuse and also engages in gaslighting.

Additionally, the film must maintain the focus of the book, which is to break the cycle of abuse. The title derives from the idea that survivors have the power to break the cycle of abuse so that the next generation can have better, healthier lives. Lily witnessed domestic violence at the hands of her father, which increased her likelihood of being in an abusive relationship as an adult (from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine via PubMed).

The vicious cycle continues when Lily enters into a relationship with Ryle, who abuses her physically, mentally and sexually. However, Lily decides to break off the relationship and break the cycle when she gives birth to her daughter Emerson. (Although Lily also deserves to go out for herself.) This empowering message is crucial to the success of the film adaptation of It ends with us.

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Sources:Psych Central and PubMed

It ends with us

director

Justin Baldoni

Release date

21 June 2024

Studio(s)

Columbia Pictures, Wayfarer Studios, Saks Picture Company

Sales Partner

Sony Pictures releases

Authors

Christy Hall

Pour

Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj

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