‘It Ends With Us’ (2024)
Funny how life imitates art, and vice versa. Such is the case with this movie about domestic violence and male anger issues directed by Justin Baldoni (“Jane the Virgin), who also stars as charming Boston neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid as he falls for Back Bay florist Lily Bloom (the inspired – or too inspired – name coming from the source material, a 2016 bestseller by Colleen Hoover). He gives dogged, if not stalkerly pursuit to Bloom, played by Blake Lively (“A Simple Favor”). Early on, when baking a frittata goes askew, Ryan’s temper emerges. There are other troubling outbursts too, and ultimately the controlling of Lily’s space and movements. Nothing’s too egregious (and let’s keep in mind Ryan’s a well-sculpted gent with fairly unlimited means) until they move in together, but the signs are clear. What’s also clear is that Baldoni may actually not be acting the part, as based on a lawsuit Lively has brought against him alleging such things as sexual harassment on the set (signs of tension evident by the stars promoting the film separately). “It Ends” did extremely well in its theatrical run and was trending on Netflix before the suit and controversy. While I can’t speak to Hoover’s prose, the film tries to have it all ways: Ryan is charming, Ryan is bad, Ryan understands his toxic masculinity and wants to change. All can be true, but as distilled, it’s so turnkey, didactic and flat that it deducts from the traumatic real-life issue it seeks to dramatize. Even the clean and pristine setting that’s rendered, exemplified by Lily’s uber neat and tidy shop (which gets Best of Boston in Boston magazine) and Ryan’s killer pad – is a flimsy facade, as what you see onscreen, beside some key landmarks such as the Zakim Bridge in aerial shots, is actually Northern New Jersey. (Tom Meek) On Netflix.
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
This post was updated Feb. 19, 2025, to correct the spelling of a name.
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