Directed by Justin Baldoni (Five Feet Apart), It Ends with Us begins the same way as a plethora of romantic dramas. The sad and lost Lily Bloom (Blake Lively – The Shallows) has a chance meeting with the handsome, talented surgeon, Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), on a Boston rooftop.
The attraction is obvious but the pair part ways when Ryle is called to the hospital. Lily goes about her business and starts her florist shop where she hires Allysa (Jenny Slate – The Secret Life of Pets) to work for her. Then it happens Allysa’s brother comes to the store and it just happens to be Ryle.
At the same time the audience are shown Lily’s past. As a teenager (Isabela Ferrer – Evil) begins a relationship with a young homeless student named Atlas (Alex Neustaedter – Walking Out) whom she has to keep secret from her abusive father (Kevin McKidd – Trainspotting), who regularly assaults her mother (Amy Morton – Up in the Air).
From there It Ends with Us becomes a gritty story of multi-generational domestic abuse. Lily, who was once the daughter who became angry at the excuses her mother made for her father, is now the woman who uses those same excuses to cover up what her partner is doing to her.
What makes this such a special film is the power of Christy Hall’s (Daddio) screenplay. The way she lulls the audience in a false sense of security by deceiving them early on with a traditional romance story is nothing short of brilliant. The long dialogue-driven scene in which Lily and Ryle meet each other makes Ryle likable from the start – and in way it feels like the audience has been won over by his magic.
Hall even writes the moment that the audience first sees Ryle’s dark side in an interesting way. The incident is over in a second and Hall’s screenplay doesn’t make it at all black and white – in fact there will be some people watching the film that will think, ‘Well, maybe it is accident.’
But for the times that Hall and Baldoni in his director’s role ‘trick’ their audience they certainly don’t hold back when the film needs to be gritty. Some of the attacks by the perpetrators in this film are full on and confronting and if you find yourself watching this film and not becoming emotionally involved then you must have a heart of stone.
This is a film where the tension continues to rise throughout and by the time Hall writes the adult Atlas (Brandon Sklenar – Midway) back into the story, this becomes a film that threatens to explode on the screen at any time.
Also taken full advantage of the screenplay are the stars of this film. Blake Lively relishes in the drama of her role and her skills as an actress really come to the fore especially in a lot of the dialogue heavy scenes. Isabela Ferrer also reveals herself as the star of the future playing the younger Lily in a performance that was way more mature than her experience would suggest.
Aside from his role in the director’s seat, Baldoni also shines on the screen in a real Jekyll-and-Hyde role. Being able to have the audience eating out of your hand one moment and then totally repulsing them the next is no easy feat yet he manages to do it time and time again throughout the film.
Credit also has to be paid to Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar who may not have the same amount of screentime as the stars of the film but manage to deliver the goods in some of the films more dramatic scenes.
It Ends with Us is not only a well-written and brilliantly performed film, it is a film that’s message and themes will stay with audiences for a long time to come. To see a mainstream film take on the theme of domestic violence against women is such an amazing way is a rarity but something that has been needed for a long, long time.
It Ends with Us opens in Phuket cinemas on Aug 15 and has yet to be classified.
4.5/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film journalist for over 25 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He currently hosts a film podcast called The Popcorn Conspiracy. He is also a Rotten Tomatoes accredited reviewer and is an alternate judge for the Golden Globes Awards. You can follow him at Facebook: SubcultureEntertainmentAus