Summary
The controversial Blake Lively adaptationIt Ends with Ushas debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with mixed reviews. The movie, which is adapted from the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, stars director Justin Baldoni and Lively as a complicated couple whose romance reminds her of her parents. The cast also includes Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, and Hasan Minhaj. TheIt Ends with Uscontroversystems from the book’s depiction of an abusive relationship, which has been criticized by some as a romanticization of the subject.
Rotten Tomatoeshas now aggregated an official score forIt Ends with Usbased on 27 different critics' reviews ahead of the movie’s opening weekend in U.S. theaters. While the score could fluctuate as more reviews are added,it debuted on the platform with a Rotten score of 56%at the time of writing. However, this shows that critics are deeply mixed on the project, as it could easily cross the 60% line, past which a movie is considered Fresh.
It Ends With Us Could Work Better With Audiences Than Critics
Blake Lively’s 2015 Romance Sets A Rotten Tomatoes Precedent
However, a previous romance movie featuring Lively has shown that audiences could end up liking the movie considerably more than critics.
While the controversy surroundingIt Ends with Usreleasefigures into many of its reviews, both positive and negative,the Rotten Tomatoes score seems to be responding primarily to the filmmaking aspectsrather than the social issues at the core of its storytelling. While there is general praise for Blake Lively’s performance, the movie has been criticized for being overstuffed and melodramatic. However, a previous romance movie featuring Lively has shown that audiences could end up liking the movie considerably more than critics.
Blake Lively’s 2024 Romance Movie Can Fix The Biggest Criticism Of The Book It’s Based On
The 2024 movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us has the potential to fix the book’s biggest criticism because of this one detail.
In 2015, theIt Ends with Usstarplayed the title role inThe Age of Adaline, a science fiction romance that followed the life of a woman who stopped aging after she turned twenty-nine. Out of a total of 171 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie eventually settled at a Rotten score of 55%, just one point shy of the score of Lively’s 2024 romance adaptation. However, general audiences disagreed with critics aboutAdaline, giving the movie a firmly Fresh audience score of 67%, a full 12% increase on the critical consensus.
The Age of Adalinewas also a commercial success, grossing $65.7 million in theaters against a budget of $25 million.
Audiences could similarly upliftIt Ends with Uswhen the time comes for them to share their movie reviews. It remains to be seen if the controversy around the novel and the movie affects the audience score, as there was not a similar issue surroundingThe Age of Adalineahead of its release. However, if the precedent holds true, there could be hope for the new movie’s theatrical performance despite the controversy and its mixed reviews.
It Ends With Us
Cast
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
