I'll start by saying that I have not read the novel and this review is based simply on the film. It Ends With Us is fine. It's not good nor bad but simply fine and forgettable. This is film that is meant to be a romance/drama but at times feels more like fantasy. So much of what happens in the main characters life (Lily Bloom) is by happenstance. Lily meets Ryle (yup, that's his name) because she happens to be sitting on the roof of his building one night when he decides to escape up there to throw a temper tantrum. Lily's new best friend, Allysa, just happens to be walking by Lily's new store the day Lily happens to have just opened it. Lily meets the first love of her life, Atlas (yup, another real name in this story) when she happens to be looking out her bedroom window when Atlas is sneaking out of the abandoned house across the street. Lily's entire way of meeting the most meaningful people in her life is by sheer luck. Oh, and by the way, Lily with no means and no job just seems to have enough money to open a brand new business in one of the most expensive East coast cities in the United States. And did I mention her name is Lily Bloom? And she loves flowers? And that her best friend, that she met by happenstance just happens to be the sister of the incredibly attractive neurosurgeon she also met by happenstance? These characters have no depth and no story. They're just beautiful successful people. There is no reason for Lily and Ryle to fall in love other than they are both incredibly attractive. That's it. There is no depth to either one. We don't actually see or feel them fall in love, it's all about being hot and then a montage of them doing 'things' together. This is a really incredibly shallow film. The message of getting away from domestic violence is an important one. And the only real heartfelt part of this entire film is when Lily asks her mom why she never left her abusive husband and the mom said 'it would have been harder to leave'. A very true and real moment in a fantastical story that should be grounded in reality but is nowhere near it.
Again, I haven't read the book. But what makes a story like this interesting to readers? There's just nothing to the story. It's not grounded in reality, the characters are hollow and unlikeable and it's not interesting in the least.
Again, I haven't read the book. But what makes a story like this interesting to readers? There's just nothing to the story. It's not grounded in reality, the characters are hollow and unlikeable and it's not interesting in the least.