It Ends with Us – Movie Reviews by Ry!

It Ends with Us – A Blossoming Truth of Love and Worth

To feel, to yearn, to breathe.  Within the strings of chance, life presents a place where natural course meets endearing moments.  From these moments, emotional turns can bring about desire or reflection … presenting you with a choice for the other.  This personal discourse is an adaptable theme for any story, one that can leave you with an indelible experience.  In this review, I look at the latest romance/human drama tale.  Within a story about life’s journey, it becomes something more than just another ‘fall in love’ cliché.  With strong characters and a hardiness of moments, It Ends with Us is a character tale into what it means to be … true to self. 

In a tale of life, Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) will embark on a journey in hopes of moving on from the past and finding a new truth for herself.  Within the art of storytelling, there are many paths to take, especially with adaptations.  The creative means of adapting across mediums becomes a rapture of creative thought and vision.  With this tale, the filmmakers put the focus of the journey through the eyes of the characters.  This begins with our main lead, Lily, who is going through a unique tragedy that puts her at a crossroads of growth and perspective.  After a slow building prologue, her path leads to an encounter with a neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni).  Through tantalizing conversations, we head into a foundation of romantic zeal; one that molds within a subtle onlook of personal experience.  As Lily and Ryle attempt to form a relationship, these scenes of romance and conversations bring about memories of her past (through flashbacks).  The back and forth of Lily’s past and present builds upon the genre’s foundational elements, weaving through the highs and lows of romance.  As their relationship builds, convenient circumstances come into play, and Lily runs into her old fling, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar).  This drums up another layer of conflict, creating a triangular character effect that weaves through wholesome and melodramatic moments.  As things start to come to light, romance starts to fracture … leading into a tale that evolves the foundation into a characterization of choice, purpose and human worth.

Within the aspect of romance, clichés abound within the certainty of moments.  As the journey of this film begins to evolve, the directive moves further into the characters, leading to a tale that doesn’t sensationalize the topic, but showcases an emotional overture of what love can and can’t be.  With this, Lily begins to reflect on her past in the present, starting to understand the truth.  This leads to a third act of hardy conversations, unexpected tension and flawed moments of choice.  Through the raw emotional crossroads, it builds towards a full circle climax, and a wholesome like epilogue.  It Ends with Us is a romance tale that weaves melodrama to become a unique experience of human worth.  If you are a fan of the novel, the actors/actresses involved or romance tales, this is one for you.  This can be a good time at the theaters.    

Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)