Spoilers ahead for It Ends With Us – both Colleen Hoover’s book and the 2024 movie adaptation.
This article contains discussions about the movie and book’s portrayal of domestic violence and abuse.
The film adaptation of It ends with us It greatly improves upon the source material with a key change to Atlas Corrigan’s (Brandon Sklenar) story. Based on Colleen Hoover’s controversial 2016 novel of the same name, the divisive drama centers on Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a young woman who opens her dream flower shop in the heart of Boston after the death of her father, Andrew (Kevin Makid). At the funeral, Lily struggles to come to terms as she remembers her father’s years of physical and emotional abuse. A fellow survivor of domestic abuse, Atlas helped Lily navigate her teenage years.
In a heartbreaking turn, Lily finds herself in another abusive relationship with a second member of It ends with us‘ cast of characters – the seemingly charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni). As their relationship progresses, Lily recognizes the signs of an abuser in Riley’s controlling behavior and violent actions. While having dinner with Riley, Lily runs into Atlas again after years spent apart. very tired Atlas recognizes that something is not right in Lily and Riley’s dynamic. Once again, he offers Lily the support and love she needs to stand up to Riley and escape the cycle of abuse.
The movie “It Ends With Us” adds new details about Atlas’ backstory
It ends with us spending more time avoiding Lily and Atlas’ past than teenagers
It ends with us Differs from the book in a few key ways, including what it shares and changes about Atlas’s backstory. In the source material, Atlas is several years older than Lily, which makes their past romantic relationship incredibly problematic. Atlas, who is nineteen, is interested in Lily’s sixteenth birthday, even appearing on the day to end their relationship. Since it seems like Atlas planned their first time around her birthday, this makes the book’s statutory rape issue all the more troubling. The movie deftly avoids this problem by making the teenage versions of Lily and Atlas the same age.
The movie still frames Atlas and Lily’s relationship as a fleeting first love, all while showing just how much the two survivors supported each other.
It helps that Isabella Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter, the actors who play young Lily and Atlas, are only a year or so apart in age in real life. In addition to casting actors who look the same age, the movie reiterates that Atlas is in his senior year of high school. In order to escape his abusive home life, Atlas decides to live in an abandoned house across the street from the Bloom family. After their classmates mock Atlas’ living situation, Lily helps her neighbor by bringing him food and offering him a place to shower.
The movie definitely does a better job of building a more nuanced relationship between Lily and Atlas. After the funeral, Lily’s book counterpart happens to thumb through her childhood diaries, where she reveals her teenage thoughts about Atlas. Although he left small-town Maine behind to join the military, Atlas promised to return to Lily one day. The movie still frames Atlas and Lily’s relationship as a fleeting first love, all while showing just how much the two survivors supported each other.
It ends with us ‘flashbacks, exploring Atlas’ backstory better than the book
The movie is able to provide more insight into the point of view of Atlas
Since the reader learns about Atlas’s backstory through the lens of Lily’s diary in the novel, it is difficult to get a sense of his point of view. A strength of the movie is that it allows viewers to see more of Atlas’ past – and through his own lens. Instead of being a somewhat random character from Lily’s past who crops up again in the present to help her escape Riley’s abuse, The Atlas of the movie has a more coherent storyline. Although he is leaving my army, he has long had dreams of opening a restaurant.
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In addition to cooking for Lily as a teenager, Atlas realizes his dream in the present. It helps that Atlas feels like a fully realized character before he offers Lily refuge from Riley’s abuse. Without a doubt, it improves It ends with usEnding by deepening the bond Atlas and Lily have with each other. With his own perspective and fleshed-out life, Atlas is compelling in its own right and that makes the movie stronger overall.
It ends with us’ Atlas flashbacks improving his & Lily’s relationship
Atlas’ desire to help Lily in the present makes more sense thanks to his backstory
The movie’s flashbacks delve more into Atlas’ heroic home life, from his abusive stepparent and mother to the fact that living on the streets (or in an abandoned house) felt safer than his home. When Lily’s father discovers Lily and Atlas together, he lashes out. Lily watches in horror as her father assaults Atlas. finally, Atlas understands just how difficult Lily’s childhood was, which only strengthens his determination to help in the present. Overall, Atlas has more reason to become reactive when he sees Lily being abused by Riley It ends with us‘ Movie adaptation.