"It Ends with Us" is more mature and beautifully acted than its melodramatic trappings would suggest

It Ends with Us (2024)

A film about the cycle of abuse starring beautiful people would seem like a hard sell. It still is, but Colleen Hoover’s 2016 book is a best-seller and receives a surprisingly nuanced treatment with director Justin Baldoni’s "It Ends with Us." Not some cheap, insipid soap opera hinging on a love triangle, this is a mature and beautifully acted romantic drama that mostly avoids melodramatic soapiness.

Blake Lively, looking glamorous as only Blake Lively can, gives an emotionally stunning performance as Lily Bloom (yes, the film knows the name is silly). After not having the words to give her late father’s eulogy, Lily starts a new life of independence in Boston and opens up her own flower shop. Between her business and meeting a charming, sexy neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni), Lily’s life gets completely upended when their intense flirtation becomes more serious and reminiscent of her own parents’ tempestuous marriage. To add extra complication, Lily’s first love, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), unexpectedly enters her life again.

Above all else, "It Ends with Us" is a terrific showcase for Blake Lively. The role of Lily asks so much from Lively, who has to be guarded but vulnerable, and also smart and funny. During Lily and Ryle’s meet-cute on the roof of his apartment building, Lively and Baldoni have scorching chemistry with each other. Directing himself, Baldoni is up to the task of making Ryle charismatic and desirable but also problematic with a short fuse. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: B +

Sony Pictures released "It Ends with Us" (130 min.) in theaters on August 9, 2024.