It Ends With Us is a movie based on a novel by Colleen Hoover. The movie explores Lily Bloom as she chases her dreams of opening up her own shop. Upon her arrival she meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle and they hit it off. As their relationship gets serious, Lily starts to notice traits in Ryle that reflect her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan, unexpectedly comes back into her life, it disrupts her relationship with Ryle, forcing her to face a challenging decision.
Many of the novel readers can’t help but notice how much the movie differs from the novel. Elements such as the characters, the plot, and the names of places are different from the novel. Starting with the characters, Devin, Lily’s best friend is not included in the movie. Lily ends up running her own flower shop because Lucy, who hires her to work at the flower shop, is not in the movie. Ryle and his sister’s parents are also not included in the movie. Changes in the plot such as Lily’s perception of Ryle’s abuse and Lily’s conversation with Ryle about leaving.
In the movie, Lily’s journey to understand Ryle’s abusive behavior happens slowly. She often feels confused and in denial about what is happening. As she starts to realize the truth, it comes to her bit by bit, making her feel overwhelmed and unsure about her decisions. On the other hand, in the original book, Lily is stronger and more direct. She confronts Ryle right after each bad incident. She clearly expresses her discomfort and stands up to him, showing that she understands her situation from the start. This difference in how Lily is portrayed shows how the story deals with abuse differently in the movie and the book.
In the book, Lily warns Ryle that she’ll leave him for good if he ever hurts her again, but in the movie, this conversation doesn’t take place. Instead, Lily divorces him and confronts Ryle about how he would react if their daughter was in an abusive relationship and she went back, and decides to raise their child without him, unlike the novel where they maintain a co-parenting relationship to some degree.
There are some viewers who are very critical of the movie. One Tiktoker says the movie is “shallow and superficial” and “unserious.” Others say the movie is “so good” and a “tear jerker.” I personally believe that the movie did a good job at portraying *DV* and I’m glad it drifted from the novel. Her gradually noticing how wrong her situation is, shows us another side most others don’t realise. Her breaking the cycle of abusive relationships and putting her daughter first is something many others in her situation can’t do. I enjoyed the shift they took from the novel.
While It Ends with Us is far from a perfect movie, it offers a meaningful exploration of love, trauma, and personal growth and covers an important and relevant topic that needs to be explored.
