Warning: This article contains mentions of domestic violence.
Summary
The ending ofIt Ends With Usis explained by Justin Baldoni and Alex Saks. Saks is a producer on the romance film, and Baldoni acts as the film’s director and one of its main stars. The Christy Hall-written film also features aleading cast including Blake Lively, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Brandon Sklenar, and Kevin McKidd. It is based on the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, which became popular on BookTok following its release.
In an interview withDeadline, Baldoni and Saks explain the ending ofIt Ends With Us. Baldoni explains that the ending ofIt Ends With Uscame in close collaboration with Hall, the screenwriter, who feels thatthe movie could not be a “feminist film” if Lily and Atlas “end up together"in its conclusion. The movie did not have enough time to show whether she has “healed herself before just ending up with another man. As Saks puts it, the film opts for the “hope and promise” of their love. Check out the full quotes from Baldoni and Saks below:
Baldoni:One of the first things [Christy Hall] said was that, to truly make a truly make a feminist film, we can’t have [Lily] end up with [Atlas] at the end of this movie, and I agreed completely, and yet, we had to find a way to satisfy the hope that maybe they would end up together. You don’t have enough real estate in the movie to see who she is, what she’s doing, get a sense of her life, to see what she’s accomplished and to see that she’s healed herself before just ending up with another man. I wasn’t interested in making that movie. Christy wasn’t interested in making that movie. Colleen wasn’t interested in making that movie. So it was this tricky balance of finding a way to show that she was independent, had left her bad situation and also that there was hope for the two of them to end up together. Maybe they were just meant to be together this whole time.
Saks:We knew we had to end the movie with hope and the promise, especially because of how Atlas is set up in the movie. But at the same time, it was really important that that a reasonable amount of time had passed. So that Lily could really move on could establish this sort of new independent life for herself, but at the same time, we want her to find love whether that was new love, or a return to this true love. It was really important that there be sweetness to that moment, that there be romance, that there be some some level of Kismet.
How It Ends With Us Is More Feminist Than The Book
The Movie Changes The Book’s Ending
Though the book version of the story has been incredibly successful,Hoover’sIt Ends With Usis controversial. When the book was released, many people felt that thenovel presented a glamorized and overly romanticized version of domestic abuse. The novel does present a cycle of abuse and a woman breaking it, but ultimately is marketed as a romance novel, leading several readers to feel like the serious issues at its core are underplayed.
A main qualm with the book was the feeling thatRyle, the abuser, was given far too much leeway in the book. The movie was originally going to end with a sympathetic ending for Ryle, wherein he has a conversation with Lily years later. For Baldoni, this felt too forgiving, raising challenging questions about whether “a man like Ryle [should] be allowed to coparent.” As a result, Baldoni changedIt Ends With Us' endingwith the character looking “at his wife and kid, and the life he could have had,” rather than being given the security of an easier ending.
It Ends With Us Ending Explained
The compelling ending of It Ends With Us sends an important and hopeful message about surviving abuse and breaking the cycle of violence.
Not sparing Ryle is one way in whichIt Ends With Ustook the more feminist route. Rather than finding hope in a peaceful co-parenting situation between victim and abuser,the power of the film’s ending comes from showing Lily’s independence. Part of forming this “independent life for herself” is not letting Lily have the ease of ending up with Atlas right away, so theIt Ends With Usteam made another good adaptation decision when crafting the end of the film.
It Ends With Us
Cast
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
