The popular social media sensation and TikTok book, “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover, recently got adapted into a movie. The ‘romance’ novel is based on Hoover’s parents’ relationship. It follows the protagonist Lily Bloom through her relationship with her two love interests Ryle and Altas while exploring the themes of domestic violence and emotional manipulation.
The movie came out on August 4 and since has received an abundance of criticism.
The most recent controversy concerning the movie is about the drama between Blake Lively, the producer of the film and Justin Baldoni, the director. Along with producing and directing, Lively and Baldonialso play the leading roles of Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid.
The tension between the two actors are a result of their creative differences on set. In an article by Pedestrian, some crew members were interviewed and claimed that while Baldoni was a good director and actor, “he lacked control over the project because of his inexperience with running a big crew.” This willed Lively take control, and in the process she became too domineering, causing her to lose interest in the movie as it progressed.
The more she and Baldoni interacted the less she appeared on set.
There have also been reports of Lively being upset at Baldoni for fat shaming her on set and lingering on a kiss for too long, none of which has been confirmed by the actors.
The readers of the book came into the movie with high hopes from the casting of the characters. When they first announced who would be playing the characters in it, there was some backlash over the casting of Lively and Baldoni playing the main characters.
It was said that they were significantly older to portray young characters. Many fans also disapproved of Lively’s outfits, claiming that she did not look like the “Lily” they imagined for the movie. Lively’s representation of Lily Bloom did not exceed the fans expectations, and some wished the book had been left alone.
The film’s advertising efforts have been accused of being tone deaf. In the interviews that Lively and Baldoni have done, one can clearly see the difference in the way they go about promoting the movie. Lively is promoting it as a light romance and says “Grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it” while Baldoni is directly addressing the topic of domestic violence during his interviews.
Whilst promoting the movie, Lively was also promoting her own hair and drink products so prominently that a viewer might not have even been able to tell “It Ends with Us” is a story about domestic violence.
This movie was announced as a romance. The trailer and the advertisement gave a false illusion of the movie and its contents, which is why the film is surrounded by a lot of controversy.
The audience walked into the theaters thinking that it was going to be a light and fluffy romance, but instead felt shocked, were exposed to trauma-related triggers, and came out of the theater wiping tears off their faces.
While the movie does contain romance, that’s not all it is centered on. It is rather a story about a woman finding the strength and courage to leave an abusive relationship in order to end the cycle of abuse before it could continue for her daughter.
The movie portrays similar situations women may find themselves in, and encourages the viewers that it’s better to leave than to continue the cycle.
In terms of the movie overall, it did not live up to its hype, as it downplayed the abuse between the two characters and some actors did not portray the characters as the readers imagined.