Spoilers are ahead for It Ends with Us (2024) and Colleen Hoover’s novel It Starts with Us.
This article contains discussions of potentially triggering topics found in both the books and movie, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, physical assault, and contemplation of death by suicide.
The surprising success — and numerous controversies — ofIt Ends with Ushas viewers wondering what, exactly, happens in Colleen Hoover’s second book,It Starts with Us. Directed by Justin Baldoni (Jane the Virgin),the big-screen adaptation ofIt Ends with Usfollows Hoover’s divisive novel pretty faithfully. As in the source material, the movie centers onLily Bloom (Blake Lively), a young woman who opens a Boston flower shop in the wake of her father’s (Kevin McKidd) death. The loss of her dad proves difficult to cope with for Lily because he was abusive throughout her childhood.
While Lily’s mom (Amy Morton) was unable to seek help, or even speak about her husband’s physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, Lily’s newfound friend, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), supported her without hesitation. A survivor of domestic violence himself, an adult Atlas looks for signs of abuse, and, when he comes back into Lily’s life, he believes her new boyfriend, Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), is an abuser. By theend ofIt Ends with Us,Lily has navigated her current and past traumas with Atlas' help and decides that she and Ryle should get divorcedfor the benefit of their newborn daughter, Emerson. This sets the stage for the literary sequel.
Lily Wants To Reach Out To Atlas But Fears Ryle’s Reaction
Lily & Ryle Divorced But Are Still Co-Parents To Emerson
In Hoover’s sequel, the major players fromIt Ends with Us' cast of charactersreturn. Set nearly a year after the events of the first book,It Starts with Ussees Lily Bloom navigating her strained relationship with the abusive Ryle, who’s also the father of her 11-month-old daughter, Emerson. Although she divorces Ryle, Lily still feels strongly about keeping Ryle in Emerson’s life, which is definitely a point ofcontroversy forIt Ends with Usviewers and readers. Ultimately,It Ends with Usconcludes with the tease that Atlas and Lily will rekindle their romantic relationship.
…Lily is too terrified of Ryle’s potential reaction to pursue a romance with Atlas.
As teenagers, Lily and Atlas fell in love, in part because they supported each other through the domestic violence that shaped their young adulthood. Although Atlas seems most concerned with Lily’s safety, and supporting her as she ends her abusive marriage to Ryle,Hoover believed she owed it to fans to write a continuation of Lily and Atlas' implied romantic re-connection. Although she’s still thinking about Atlas in the sequel’s opening pages, Lily is too terrified of Ryle’s potential reaction to pursue a romance with Atlas. In fact, Lily can barely have a phone conversation with Atlas without panicking.
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Atlas’ Estranged Mother Reaches Out To Him
Atlas’ Surprise Younger Brother Josh Is Missing
InIt Ends with Us, Atlas and Lily both launch successful businesses, which is why Atlas is skeptical when his estranged mother, Sutton, reaches out to him. Thinking she just wants money, Atlas doesn’t give her the time of day. As seen inIt Ends with Us' flashbacks,Atlas left his home life behind in order to survive. Before Lily reached out to him with the offer of food and a hot shower, Atlas even considered death by suicide. However, Sutton surprises a still-grieving Atlas with the reveal that he has a younger brother, Josh, who has gone missing.
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Ryle Assaults Lily & Atlas After Finding Out About Their Romantic Relationship
Ryle Proves He Hasn’t Changed Since It Ends With Us
For viewers who are wonderingwhat happens to Lily Bloom after the movie’s credits roll, Hoover’s sequel novel definitely explores the fact that Lily isn’t completely free from Ryle’s abusive pull and emotional manipulation. Early on inIt Starts with Us, Lily returns home from work to find that Ryle has entered her apartment, with Emerson, without asking. Clearly hoping to catch Lily off-guard,Ryle demands to have overnights with Emerson, but Lily rejects his proposal, reiterating that Emerson won’t be allowed to be alone with her father overnight until she’s old enough to speak and self-advocate.
The more Lily walks on eggshells, the more clear it becomes that divorcing Ryle wasn’t enough.
While Lily navigates co-parenting with her abusive ex-husband, she also struggles to really start a romantic relationship with Atlas. When Atlas visits her flower shop,Lily forces Atlas to hide in a closet to avoid Ryle’s unexpected drop-in. The more Lily walks on eggshells, the more clear it becomes that divorcing Ryle wasn’t enough. After Atlas finally spends the night at Lily’s, Ryle turns up the next morning. Deducing what happened, he physically assaults Lily. Still in a jealous rage, even a few days later, Ryle tracks Atlas down to his restaurant and assaults him as well.
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Lily Changes The Terms Of The Custody Agreement To Protect Emerson
Ryle Must Take Anger Management Courses & Accept Supervised Visits
After Ryle’s incredibly disturbing and traumatizing violent outbursts, Lily refuses to speak with him alone at Emerson’s first birthday party. However, Lily does need to speak with Ryle and agrees to do so if Ryle’s sister, Allysa, and brother-in-law, Marshall, are also present. When the four of them get together, Lily outlines her terms:If Ryle doesn’t attend anger management courses, his ability to see Emerson will be in jeopardy. Lily also mandates that Ryle’s future visits with Emerson be supervised, given his very sudden episodes. Begrudgingly, a frustrated Ryle agrees to the ultimatum.
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Atlas Takes Josh In After Realizing Their Mother Abused Him
Atlas Requests Full Parental Rights Over Josh
What happens to Atlas afterIt Ends with Usisn’t all tied to his relationship with Lily. The day his estranged mother first reaches out, Atlas turns up at work to discover that his restaurant was vandalized. Realizing that whoever broke in took food, he decides not to report the incident. As a teenager, Atlas was often starving — until Lily came along. Eventually, it’s revealed that the vandal is actually Atlas' missing brother, Josh, who ran away from home to escape their abusive mother. By the novel’s end,Atlas meets with Sutton and requests full parental rights over Josh.
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Lily & Atlas Move In Together
In It Starts With Us, The Couple Get A Happy Ending
Six months after Lily irons out new arrangements with Ryle and Atlas attains parental rights over his younger brother, Lily and Atlas reach another big relationship milestone. Although the two had a difficult time defining their rekindled relationship at first,Lily finds the strength to stand up for her needs, safety, and happiness. In doing so, she not only protects Emerson from Ryle, but finds a way forward with Atlas. By the time Emerson is about a year and a half old, Atlas asks Lily to move in with him, suggesting that the couple are bound for a happy ending.
It Starts With Us Concludes With Atlas & Lily’s Wedding Nearly 2 Years Later
Readers Don’t Get To See The Proposal But The Book Does Wrap Up Lily & Atlas' Story
In the final pages ofIt Starts with Us, Hoover glosses over Atlas' proposal and jumps right to the couple’s wedding day. Set a year and a half after Atlas and Lily move in together,the brief wedding scene sees Atlas nervously reciting his wedding vows to Lily. That said, if a movie sequel happens, a lot will need to be changed to fit with the film’s ending. After delivering Emerson, Lively’s Lily asks Ryle what he would say to his own daughter if her husband was abusive; Ryle agrees that he’d tell Emerson to cut him out.
Baldoni has said that he will not return to direct a sequel toIt Ends with Us, leaving the status of his character up in the air too.
The scene that follows, which features Lily repeatedly whispering, “It ends with us,” to her newborn daughter, suggests thatLily wants to end the cycle of abuse in her family by cutting ties with Ryle, though it’s a tad ambiguous. One of thebiggest differences inIt Ends with Us' bookis that Lily decides to co-parent Emerson with Ryle, despite the fact that he abused her. In fact,It Starts with Usreveals that Lily hesitates to report the abuse at all, which isn’t necessarily uncommon for survivors of domestic abuse and/or sexual assault (viaRAINN.org).
Will There Be An It Ends With Us Sequel?
A Sequel Seems To Be Up In The Air
The massive success ofThis Ends With Usseems like it would indicate the inevitable appearance of a sequel movie, especially since there is a sequel novel with source material to draw from.The idea of a sequel, however, becomes complicated when taking into account more factors than just how much money the studio made on the movie at the box office.
There have been rumors of difficulty on set, particularly thatJustin Baldoni and Blake Livelydid not see eye-to-eye when it came to making the movie.Baldoni has already said in interviews that if a sequel gets made, he would not return to direct a second time(viaDeadline). Cast tension does not necessarily mean a project would be scrapped, but it could make filming successfully much more difficult.
Likewise,much of the source material has been changed - or at the very least, the implication of changes to it exists in the first movie. The second novel sees Ryle stalking his ex and her new love interest, engaging in just as many abusive behaviors as the past. The movie implies he has been completely cut out of her life.Unless the movie makes drastic changes to the story, it seems like a sequel would be unlikely.It Ends With Usgave the audience a more satisfactory ending than the original novel did, so a sequel is not necessarily needed.
There are also currently several Colleen Hoover adaptations in development at different studios. It seems likely that studios would be eager to repeat the success ofIt Ends With Uswith more of Hoover’s work, but not necessarily the same characters.Reminders of Himwas recently announced in development for a potential 2026 movie release with Hoover herself co-writing the script. AnIt Ends With Ussequel may have more working against it than for it.
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.
