Though it may seem like another breezy rom-com, “It Ends With Us” is a movie about hard decisions that must be made and the realities of domestic violence (even if it isn’t marketed as such.) The movie may be more enjoyable for those who had not read the book and had no point of reference to the many omitted plot points, however, I enjoyed the movie more than I did the book.

The movie follows Lily Blossom Bloom, played by Blake Lively, who is about to fulfill her lifelong dream of opening her own flower shop. She moved to Boston in the wake of her father’s death and finds herself on the rooftop of an apartment she isn’t a resident of, where she meets neurosurgeon resident Ryle Kincaid, (who actually is a resident,) and we all get the feeling that neither of their lives will ever be the same. They’ve both had terrible days, as she’s just lost her father and he’s just lost a patient in surgery, so of course Ryle thinks it a great time to say that he wants to have sex with Lily. While they do almost kiss, he’s called back to work and Lily thinks that’s the end of it. Soon after, Lily is given the keys to her new shop and begins to set it up with her new helper and future best friend, Allysa (one of the few tolerable characters in the movie,) who just so happens to be the sister of Ryle.

Months go by, Ryle continues to pursue Lily, and though Allysa tries to warn Lily about Ryle’s player tendencies, they fall in love anyway and are dating seriously before a previous love from Lily’s teenage years is unexpectedly thrown into the mix. Atlas Corrigan is now the owner of “Roots”, a popular restaurant that the pair happens to be eating at, and we can see there is still tension between Lily and Atlas, which Ryle does not fail to pick up on.

This is the point where the film takes a turn, but those who read the book know what’s coming. The first time Lily is hurt by Ryle, it is not shown with big red flags, the event is presented as an accident to dispose of a burnt frittata. Lily covers her bruise with make-up and moves on. The second event is more clear, with Ryle pushing Lily down the stairs, and by the third time, it is clear that none of these incidents were accidental. For the first incidents, the movie makes it intentionally unclear whether or not Ryle actually hits Lily or not, using disorienting cinematography to match Lily’s own perspective. By doing this we are shown Lily’s rationalization and why she would choose to stay, in contrast to the book, which made it very clear from the beginning that Ryle is an abuser.

While many say that the movie glamorizes abuse, I think that is up to interpretation, however, due to the poor pacing it may come off that way. While I don’t think the movie is a glamorization of domestic violence, the movie spends more time on building their love story and seems to rush through the difficult moments. At the end of the day, “It Ends With Us” is one of the better movie adaptations of a novel, but that does not make it a good movie. While it is missing some of the intricacies of the source material, I found it to be more enjoyable than the book, however, that’s not a difficult feat.