If you’ve caught glimpses of actress Blake Lively smiling brightly as she wears dreamy, floral-inspired garments for the press tour of her latest film, “It Ends With Us,” you might be fooled into assuming that her character — a florist aptly named Lily Blossom Bloom — has a tranquil life that is just a walk in the park.
Lily certainly wakes up and smells the roses — even if they are found to be prickly, with bloody thorns.
Trigger warning: the narrative explores themes related to domestic violence and childhood trauma. The author of the 2016 novel on which the film is based, Colleen Hoover, has said the story was inspired by her parents’ relationship.
The story is ripped straight from a heartbreaking headline that many women know all too well: You think that your life is finally going perfectly and you’ve found the right partner, only to find that nothing is what it seems. The hand that once held you tenderly is the one that hits you. The face that you once found comfort in becomes the one that is most terrifying to you.
Like a fresh flower, your dreams can sometimes shrivel up and die.
Lily — named after a flower traditionally used at funerals —is perhaps Lively’s most emotionally raw character and one which fully shows her range as an actress. Over the course of the film she is funny, joyous, endearing, sad, confused, vulnerable, strong, scared and empowered.
The film is directed by Justin Baldoni (“Jane the Virgin”) who also stars as Lily’s husband, Dr. Ryle Kincaid. It also showcases the acting chops of comedians Jenny Slate and Hasan Minhaj, who play a happily married couple who help Lily along on her journey; as well as Brandon Sklenar, as Atlas — Lily’s first love who reappears in her life when she least expects it.
In what is perhaps the most emotional scene in the entire movie, you can hear the gothic, choir-inflected, layered vocals of Lively’s real-life friend Taylor Swift as she sings the 2020 sleeper hit, “My Tears Ricochet.” The haunting song made the unraveling scene seem much more dire.
While the story’s climax does feel like it was hastily wrapped up in a neat bow, it’s also the ending most of us would hope for if we were in that situation.
“It Ends With Us” is both love story and cautionary tale. It speaks of resistance, perseverance, and friendship.
The film starts and ends with Lily driving a car on an open road. But she is not the same, and, after watching the rollercoaster of a narrative unfold, neither is the viewer.
