It ends with us (2024)

Although I never did like Ryle, I understood why someone would, making the impact so much stronger. In this film I didn’t even understand why Lily liked him, even when I understood why she could.

As you probably know, I have talked about the book this film was based on a while ago. You can read my review here. I actually re-read my post in preparation for this one. I must say that I didn’t remember how incredibly frustrated the book had been at first. My thoughts I suppose over time shifted towards the things that stayed with me. A feeling that was, overwhelmingly positive.

I remembered not liking it very much, but as the ending was very impactful, you sort of forget all of that when the story is further away from you. When the announcement came for the actors that were cast, I and many other people were confused because they had significantly aged up the characters. Instead of being in their very early twenties, the characters cast were in their late thirties. In some ways, I understand the reasoning; in others, I don’t. I think young people, especially women, are specifically vulnerable within these new (generally first serious) relationships. Making the romance that turns into a domestic violence situation and the way these things happen (without the victim noticing at first) extremely relevant for this age bracket. I would think they would have chosen younger actors to give it the vibe at the beginning for younger girls in the audience to feel and believe that this could be them. To warn them against such relationships. But that might not have been the premise they chose. Which is fine of course.

I felt that book Lily was a strong woman who had not come into her own. A girl who loved to believe in love. Who didn’t know who she really was and what she wanted in a relationship which, giving her age, makes sense. Of course, older women can find themselves in an abusive relationship, but the whole premise of the story is based upon a girl who is naive and is in a big transitional period of her life. I understand that Ryle could not be a surgeon by his book age. That could have been fixed by having him be in school for his specialisation, as he would still do a lot of hospital work, and it would not impact the story at all. Or they could have age-gapped it. Another option was having Ryle, who is emotionally all over the place anyway, be one of those kids who skip a ton of grades and have him finish earlier. He is also supposed to be very rich. I mean, it wouldn’t even feel very out of place within the context of the story. Alas, none of those in my opinion better options were chosen.

Right, so then the movie was being made, and photos of the set were leaked. Now, in the book, Lily has this really strange style. Her flower shop has some sort of dark, gothic type of vibe. Which is all right, of course, but it’s a bit out there. I have read that a lot of people picture a very cottage-core vibe from her, whereas I would have guessed big combat-style boots. Either way, everyone agreed that whatever it ended up wasn’t it. Later on, I read that the actress in the film was postpartum and that it might have to do with that. I don’t know about that and I cannot begin to speculate about it.

Then, of course, there was the whole press thing that all actors do. Those are overall boring to me, and I never feel the need to watch any of that. Mainly because I am never really a fan of a person per se. I like to see what people do with their character; I don’t necessarily want to have them wax poetically about it. Having said that, the marketing was, to me, a bit all over the place and not at all in line with the message of the film. This is what I have noticed in my periphery about the marketing of the book as well, so this might not have been surprising for people following it closer. It did make me go off watching the movie in the cinema, if I am honest, and I thus decided to skip it. A lot has come out now, and I know that, but I really don’t think it’s my place to comment on such things, especially as I wasn’t there, and I don’t know everything about it at is has not been tried in court. I talk about movies and books and such on here, and I don’t really feel it has impacted how I would feel about the film.

When it came to Netflix, I was really unsure if I wanted to see it as I don’t want to add anything when half of the internet cannot seem to stop talking about it. But as I re-read my book review, I just had to know if the adaptation did the book any justice. That said, here we go.

The film in short
When a woman’s first love suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with a charming, but abusive neurosurgeon is upended and she realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.
Read more here.

The trailer

If the video doesn’t work, click here.

My Thoughts
We start, similar to the book, with the funeral of Lily’s father. Because we have no idea about any of her thoughts and feelings, it comes across as if she could not be bothered to say anything about her dad, instead of the struggle it was in the book, but this probably has to do with the medium it was made in.

The rooftop scene was the epitome of an absolute meet-cute in the book, and even though I saw right through Ryle, I could see how others might root for them as it, up until then, followed a very standard line we see in lots of films and books. In the film, this scene fell completely flat. The scene feels as if they want it to be very, very heavy while also making it lighthearted. This does not work well at all, and as it’s in the beginning of the film, you do not get a sense of who these people are.

In the book, Ryle’s outburst could be explained away. Here; it just feels out of place. Later on, it was explained, but within the scene, it didn’t feel coherent. Also, going from thinking someone is on the edge, so to speak and then joining them is very strange behaviour. The dialogue is awkward, and it doesn’t make one go: this was the meet-cute. Which is what is what supposed to be. I didn’t understand why the type of job Ryle had was so funny or why it took so long for Lily to take his word for it.

Some other lines in that scene didn’t make sense either. It was also incredibly long (and felt it), after it, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep watching. I liked the bit about the name; that was fun. I, of course, know about Lily’s dad, but when watching the film, you do not get a sense of that at all.

I don’t remember if Ryle was this emotional in the book, but it does not make sense with his character as he, to me, was quite emotionally closed off. It does make you feel kinder towards him, so that’s good, I suppose. Remember when, in the book, Ryle knocked on every door in Lily’s building to have sex with her? Here he comes out and just says it. To me, it’s clear that this whole thing was supposed to be cute and lovely, but it was very out of the blue and gave me an icky feeling. I don’t get any sense at all, as to why Lily likes Ryle. Why she ever wants to date him and I think there is such a missed opportunity.

Also, Lily dated Atlas, and I personally would have liked it better if she had said “my first boyfriend was” instead of making it about sex because it was such a turn in the conversation suddenly. The conversation goes all over the place, and it makes it feel very awkward. Lily is also a girl that wants to have a meaningful relationship before sharing the bed with someone, an absolute valid thing to want. But to then bring up sex feels a bit untrue to her character in that moment in time. I don’t find the meeting cute, nor do I want to root for either of them. In the book, at least I wanted the best for Lily.

I like high-school Lily, whom we get to know so much more within two minutes. She is kind, she cares, and she wants to help without making Atlas feel awkward about it. Her clothing looked very silly, especially for a girl that has, from what I remember, strict parents. The oversized look is something that has been a thing more recently and back in the day, the time frame where this takes place though that hasn’t been the fashion. I also was not sure if it was supposed to look as if she just never changed since she was young (e.g. she is visually as in her clothes dressed the exact same), or that she kept the same clothes for some meaningful reason (e.g. she does not have money now, or they were gifts something like that).

Atlas also looks very clean and proper for a guy who lives somewhere without running water. Which I think was a good choice, although the bullying comment was a bit much but I find that a lot in films. But because of Lily’s looks, he looks better than he ought to. Next to here, without context they look very similar. But of course, that was a choice that was made. Not to mention that having such conversations about being homeless or abuse on a bus is a bit odd, but then again, this happens a lot in films. Both Lily’s come across a bit dim, not knowing what basic training is and laughing about things like someone being a doctor. Where I found book Lily to be very smart. Maybe I am just nitpicking because I didn’t get the meet-cute I was promised.

The clothes also make me feel confused; is it summer? Are we in mid-autumn? I find the storyline with Allysa to be really strange. She says to the woman who is starting a flower shop that she hates flowers. and Lily, who loves flowers, goes along with it. I get what Lily meant, but she goes into a circle to then say she loves it. She thus comes across as someone who is easily swayed. I don’t understand how someone can just start work somewhere, Maybe this is an American thing? Or it might have been a thing for movie purposes. I liked the flower shop meeting between Ryle and Lily.

I liked the flashbacks towards the younger Lily and I was glad that we finally got to learn a bit more about Lily’s father but I felt it was left very late, it was about 30 minutes in which was about a fourth of the movie while the relationship between her parents had such an effect on her and ultimately her decision to leave later on. For me, the arc of their falling in love took way too long. They could have easily shortened the film without impacting the story they wanted to tell. It was very unclear if Lily liked Ryle; on the one hand, she tries to make him jealous with her look, then she wants him to go away. Then, when he tries to tell her he likes her, she insults him. It comes across as her not knowing what she wants at all. And I ask myself again, why does she even like this guy?

Another nitpicky thing: why is she not removing her fishnets to go to bed? Those are arguably the most uncomfortable form of tights. I cannot imagine sleeping in them at all. The sister’s dialogue pushing Ryle to ask Lily to be his girlfriend was a choice. The sister’s dialogue was very awkward. The montage about their dating was very cute, and I enjoyed it. The song chosen was a bit strange. I liked the song, but the lyrics “nothing is going to hurt you like this” feels a bit of a silly choice because this is the moment we are supposed to be rooting for them. I don’t at all get an idea of what the timeline is, how long they have been dating and such.

The older Atlas, who I loved in the book, was sadly not at all how I pictured him. I didn’t vibe with him, which was a miss but could be a me thing completely. I really like Lily and Atlas in their youth, and I they had so much wonderful chemistry. Their relationship made a lot of sense. What did not make sense was that Lily was so very immediately enamored with Atlas. This was, I fear, a way the adaption did not understand the premise of the book. Lily wasn’t looking for a substitute for Ryle for her to then leave. No, she loved Ryle deeply and wanted to stay with him. Atlas was there, a reminder that their was hope. That she was strong, he was a comforting premise. That did not come across on screen at all whatsoever. Taking away from Lily’s deeply personal, deeply heroic choice later on.

The tattoo scene made no sense as it was as if Ryle had never seen it before, when he had seen her naked plenty of times. The kitchen scene was really strange; to be fair, it was such in the book as well. In the book, is was much clearer that Ryle was the problem, whereas in the film, it was very confusing. But I think this was a deliberate choice. It obviously wasn’t an accident, but you could assume that it was, which was very strong movie telling. I did think Atlas came off way too strong, which was fine that’s just a different interpretation of the character. The whole brawl wasn’t fun at all. It might have been like that in the book; I have no idea ads I don’t remember, but it was a lot. It felt very movie and I don’t mean that positively.

The relationship between Ryle and Lily does make you realise why people stay in relationships like that: because they see the good and minimize the bad things. The proposal was cute, a bit silly, and I personally wouldn’t like it to be proposed to at my sister-in-law’s baby welcoming thing, but it worked well for them.

Ryle is, of course, not who we root for at all. We don’t like him, but with the phone number, he is right to be angry. Why he threw about a lamp and then everything else was so very wrong, and he has the worst coping skills. He also shouldn’t be in a relationship. It was interesting that she did not explain anything as that can be explained away easily; she started apologising right away. She keeps running after him and apologizing while he tells her to stop and get away from him. I think that if you have been in such a relationship and if you have been gaslit to such an extent, it can be very horrible to watch this, especially as no warning for this was given at the top of the film. My hearts hurt for those people who went to watch it in at the movies and had no idea.

After the falling-from-the-stairs scene, I would have liked a scene where everything was nice once again to really hone into the idea that there are really good things between them still. I did like the looking back at the scenes where Lily realises that she was actually hit and pushed instead of it being accidents. I did like the scene between Lily and Atlas, but the chemistry was simply not there for me at all. About the hospital scene. With all due respect, why are we having the conversation about such exams and other things with a man there who we know isn’t the issue, but he might be. I think this is very dangerous.

Also, the pregnancy conversation is strange because normally the doctor asks if you are pregnant and would then say it with a bit more tact whenever you told them you don’t think you are. Which, once again, might be a cultural thing. Something I would love for Lily is to become her own person without diving head first into another thing back with Atlas. I did like Atlas’ pep talk about Lily’s ability to be a mother. I did like that Ryle’s story wasn’t about how he went to therapy that did not work as it was in the book (as this is very harmful).

The ending and the heart-to-heart with her mother were very nice. I would have loved for that to be a bit more expanded upon. The relationship between Lily and Ryle was confusing at the end, and I get that she felt positive that he wouldn’t hurt their child, but I, for one, am not so sure. This is an issue I had with the book as well, so that’s an issue with the material. The conversation about the divorce was interesting, and I think it was good, but I don’t think it was the right place while this violent man was holding a newborn. I also think that the moment after having a baby is the hardest time for a woman to leave, and it sort of feels as though they wanted to portray her as stronger than other women in that situation. I don’t believe this was the intent, but it was how it came across to me.

I did like the it ends with us line; it was very well done, and I really liked that in the book also. The end meet-cute between Atlas and Lily was well… cute. I did wonder in the end with the ‘just us’ line if they want us to believe she is a single mom with primary custody, while in the book Ryle has 50/50 with Lily and they co-parent well together. Which is unbelievable to me, but I already said that.

At the end of the day, I think that the film would have been stronger if they had not aged up the characters. The younger actors could have easily been the characters for the whole movie. I think the impact for it would have been a bit stronger in that case, or maybe it’s harder for me to relate to people that are much older. Overall, the film was fine. I liked the book better, but then again does that not always happen?