A predictable but emotional romance about breaking cycles
I don’t usually watch romantic dramas, but I decided to give It Ends with Us a try since everyone was talking about it. And honestly? It’s okay to watch. Nothing groundbreaking, but it kept me engaged.
The story follows Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, a woman who moves to Boston to open her own flower shop after her father’s funeral. She meets Ryle Kincaid, a charming neurosurgeon played by Justin Baldoni, and they hit it off despite him claiming he doesn’t do relationships. Of course, she becomes the exception to his rule, and they fall in love.
Then her first love Atlas, played by Brandon Sklenar, reappears as a successful restaurant owner, and that’s when things get complicated. The plot is exactly what you’d expect: girl falls for what seems like the right guy, gets married, but then her ex comes back into her life. It’s the same predictable romantic drama setup.
But here’s the thing, the movie isn’t really about the love triangle. It’s about domestic violence and breaking generational cycles of abuse. Lily’s father abused her mother, and now she finds herself in a similar situation with Ryle. The film shows how abuse escalates, how victims rationalize it, and how hard it is to leave.
Blake Lively does a solid job carrying the emotional weight. The scenes where she’s dealing with Ryle’s violence are genuinely hard to watch and quite emotional. I found myself feeling for her character even though the dialogue can be pretty clunky at times.
The movie doesn’t bore me at any point, which is saying something for a two-hour romantic drama. It moves at a decent pace, and even though I could see where it was going, I stayed invested in watching Lily figure out what to do.
Some scenes hit emotionally, particularly toward the end when Lily has to make the tough choice about her future and her baby. The ending message about breaking the cycle of abuse is powerful, even if the execution is a bit heavy-handed.
It Ends with Us follows Lily Bloom as she starts a new life in Boston and falls for Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon with commitment issues. When her teenage love Atlas resurfaces, Lily’s seemingly perfect relationship with Ryle begins to crack, revealing a pattern of abuse that mirrors her parents’ toxic relationship. Pregnant and faced with an impossible choice, Lily must decide whether to repeat her mother’s mistakes or break the cycle of violence for her child’s future.
My Rating: 6/10
It’s a one-time watch that handles a serious topic with good intentions, even if the romance aspects are predictable. Blake Lively carries it well, and the emotional scenes land when they need to.
Perfect for: Fans of Colleen Hoover’s book, Blake Lively fans, viewers who enjoy emotional romantic dramas, people interested in stories about domestic violence and breaking cycles, those who don’t mind predictable plots if the performances are good.
Bottom line: It Ends with Us is predictable romantic drama stuff, but it tackles domestic violence in a way that made me think beyond the typical love triangle setup. It’s not boring, has some genuinely emotional moments, and Blake Lively does good work with the material. As someone who doesn’t usually watch this genre, I found it okay enough to sit through, though I wouldn’t rush to rewatch it.
Ready to Watch?
It Ends with Us is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and other digital platforms in the United States.
Worth one watch if you’re curious, just don’t expect anything you haven’t seen before.