Oli-view: It Ends With Us

Boy, talk about a movie with a real-life drama so thick, I have to watch it in order to comment on it.

Anywho, I watched It Ends With Us last night and here's my take on it.

What I know about the movie... (CMIIW)

So this movie is an adaptation of a book with the same title written by Colleen Hoover, who also acts as the Executive Producer on the movie. Justin Baldoni, whom I am familiar with from Jane the Virgin, is the main cast and Director. He fell in love with the book, that carries a Domestic Violence theme, and bought the rights to the movie from the author. Then he invites Blake Lively to play as Lily Bloom, also the main lead, and later on she became the Producer of the movie as well.

The issue came when the movie finishes and the actors have to do a press-tour, as the two lead are never (or hardly) ever seen together. They did a separate tour, causing speculations of a conflict between Justin - Blake. The consensus was, Justin wanted the movie to spread awareness on DV, while Blake wants this to be a romance chick flick to watch with your friends while wearing matching floral dresses. This later on went viral on Social Media, causing the mass calling out of Blake's behaviour - both now and in the past. I'm not sure whether this is a PR stunt or a real drama, but it gets me buzzing with excitement and run to the theatre to watch it.

My review

Now that the drama is out of the way, I have to warn you that I came to the theatre all prepared to hate Blake. I admit, I am biased. I live for the drama. And I love Justin from JtV. Thus, I am ready for a Justin VS Blake moment. And boy was I wrong.

The movie is around 2 hours 11 minutes. When the movie ends and the credit title rolls, i find myself in tears with a bunch of nail bites on my lap. I absorb the movie, the story telling, the lines, the cuts above Justin's eyes, all of Blake's boobs... and scene after scene I was taken.

For context, I'll tell you the last movies I saw on the theatre and my short attention span. The Trap: I watched this with a dear friend, and tho I like the movie, we spent some of it commenting and chatting. Mad Max: I watched it on Imax and most of the movie, I spent reading fan fictions on TikTok. The Watchers: again with my friend, and watch it, liked it. A quiet Place: Again, spent 3/4 of the movie reading fanfic. But this particular movie, It Ends With Us, got me on my seat, glued to the screen. I love it.

"I am an unreliable narrator," says Lily (Blake) to Ryle (Justin) as they first met on the rooftop when they are sharing naked truths about themselves. I like this quote so much, I note it in my phone. You see this throughout the movie, Lily and her changing perspectives. This will make my point later on.

My first sex was with a homeless man -- He's a hard working man who's into bad situation.

I am into relationship and not casual sex - while throwing herself at Ryle.

This tattoo doesn't mean anything - it means everything.

(SPOILER) The beautiful storyline went back and forth unveiling the past that explains Lily's life. Lily's father was abusive to her mother; and she stays. Atlas's father also hurts his mother; and she stays, so Atlas left. They save each other. Ryle also came with a lot of trauma. As a young boy he shot his older brother and got him killed by accident. This leave a deep scar.

The first 90 minutes, the movie is a romance chick flick. The screen worship Justin with all his bulging muscles, and Blake's boobs and hair. Mind you, this movie came from a novel, so the script is filled with beautiful lines. The sexual chemistry was there and I was grasping through my Labubu. The theatre was heated with young hormones. It was sexy. Remember, I came with a plan to hate Blake. But I can't cos I believe her as Lily. And Justin was just a whole other beast. His acting was strong yet fragile. I can see his anger, his pain, his need of love. Even though I know this movie is about DV, throughout the 90 mins, I believe that it was an accident when he smack her in the face; I believe it was an accident when she fell down the stairs. I believe in him, just like Lily did. And this is some powerful acting, dude.

The plot thickens, as a friend used to say, the last 45 mins. This is when I went from lusting over Justin (or Ryle) to fearing him. His eyes are filled with anger and despair. But I was scared. They have this 1 mins flashback moments, when the smacking was not an accident; when the stairs was not an accident... it was with INTENT. And I felt shivers down my spine.

"Plants needs taking care of, or else it will shrivel and die... but look at that oak tree. It can live and grow on its own." - one of my favorite quotes from the movie.

Those dealing with trauma... with great loss, with abuse, with pain; are you the plants or are you the oak tree? I always say that hurt people cannot heal other hurt people. Like when we're in a plane, and the oxygen mask fell down. Always put one for yourself first, before you help others. But what should you do when you're in Lily's position, or Ryle, or Atlas? Should you open up your trauma and expose it to the first person you met, or just let it be forgotten? In these three cases, Atlas was the only one who opens his wounds to Lily before they start a relationship. So that bond grew. With Lily and Ryle, it was like a ticking time bomb. And it exploded.

The story, like what the title state, ends with a separation. A history of DV ends with a choice to let go. Despite Ryle's regret and his willingness to seek help, it was a decision to end the cycle of abuse right there and then. Lily is indeed an unreliable narrator. That, she is. We, (aka anak Sastra) used this term alot when analysing a story. First we must assess the characters. Because a narrator will be on the reader's side, because we are reading what the narrator is thinking and experiencing from their perspective. But can we trust that narrator, that is the question.

I always believe, when it comes to sexual abuse, that women/men has the right to say change their mind at any second, and say no. The partner must oblige, cos sex should be consensual. This is MANDATORY. My stance for this, is still the same. Lily can be an unreliable narrator. But her trauma is still valid, and it is still real. She can be an unreliable narrator. But that doesn't give anyone the right to hit her, or force her to do anything against her will.

I love it when Allysa (by the marvelous Jenny Slate) says, "As a friend, if you go back with him, I will never speak to you again." ; I love love it when Ryle says, "I will beg her to leave him."; and I love love love when Atlas says, "If you can fall in love again, fall in love with me." And I cried to bits and pieces when Ryle cries when Lily name the baby Emerson, after his late brother. Showing that, for Ryle too, the trauma and pain should end with the birth of their daughter.

This movie is beautiful, and I cant wait to read the book someday.

Kudos to Colleen for this amazing story; to Justin for this powerful movie; and to Blake for being Lily.